Living in Roseville? Here’s where your City Council candidates are getting their money

The Abridged version:

• Two Roseville City Council seats are up for election in November.
• Nearly $69,000 has been poured into the District 2 race between Anne Carpenter and David Nelson. Campaign finance filings show that over $41,000 has been donated in the District 4 race between Rick Bartee and Michael Franks, all of which has gone to Bartee.
• Most funding in both races has come from individuals, and a significant amount of money has been donated by organized labor committees, commerce organizations, political action groups and companies associated with real estate and development.

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Two Roseville City Council seats are up for election this cycle, both featuring contested races between non-incumbents. How are they financing their campaigns?

This year, donations in the races for districts 2 and 4 have largely come from individuals, with significant contributions from labor unions, political action groups and private businesses — many of which are associated with development in the region.

Here’s a rundown of who and what is funding the Roseville City Council candidates on your ballot.

District 2

Candidates Anne Carpenter and David Nelson are running to represent District 2, which encompasses Downtown Roseville and the rest of the city’s central region.

Carpenter, a Roseville resident of three decades who works in the business technology industry, has served on several local commissions and boards including those related to the Roseville Area Chamber of Commerce. She’s endorsed by four of the five sitting Roseville City Council members, Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo, Placer County supervisors Cindy Gustafson and Anthony DiMattei, several business and labor organizations, and the Placer County Democrats.

Campaign filings show that Carpenter raised about $39,482 between the start of the year and Sept. 19. About 55% of contribution funding has come from individuals, including Roseville vice mayor Karen Alvord and City Council member Bruce Houdesheldt.

The campaign received over $5,000 in funding from political action committees, other small contributor committees, community and political organizations, and labor unions. She also received a small amount of money from Roseville mayor Krista Bernasconi’s recipient committee, which represented Bernasconi’s previous reelection campaign.

Business entities have contributed a significant amount of funding to the Carpenter campaign, totaling over $9,000. Most companies that have donated to Carpenter are related to the land development, construction and real estate industries, including JMC Homes and Domeyko Taylor, the holding company of Taylor Builders.

District 2’s other candidate, Nelson, has lived in Roseville for 14 years and worked in small business lobbying. He previously served as the city’s transportation commissioner and has served on multiple local boards and committees, including the Roseville City School District Foundation. He’s endorsed by the labor union representing Roseville firefighters, multiple state assembly members and the Placer County Republicans.

Nelson raised about $29,155 between the start of his campaign on April 7 and Sept. 19, according to campaign finance filings. Nearly all donations to the Nelson campaign have come from individuals, totaling about 84% of contribution money. Donors include California assembly member Jose Luis Solache and multiple Roseville fire captains.

Over $2,000 in campaign donations have come from businesses, including Anheuser-Busch and the lobbying firm Capitol Regions Consulting, of which Nelson is the founder and CEO.

Local 1592, the Roseville firefighters’ union, donated $500 to Nelson’s campaign. Campaign filings do not show that Nelson has received money from political action committees or small contributions committees.

District 4

Rick Bartee and Michael Franks are running to represent the north Roseville-based District 4.

Bartee, a longtime Roseville resident, served as chief of the city fire department for nearly a decade before retiring in 2024. During his time in the city, he’s served in leadership positions for multiple public safety-related organizations. Like Carpenter, he’s been endorsed by four of five Roseville City Council members, Placer Sheriff Woo and the Placer County Democrats. He’s also been endorsed by multiple local labor unions, including Local 1592 and the Roseville police union.

The Bartee campaign raised nearly $41,320 between its debut in March and Sept. 19. Just over half of contributions have come from individual donors, including Roseville vice mayor Karen Alvord and fire department leaders from around the region. Bartee has also loaned his campaign $10,000.

Bartee has received almost $5,000 from political action committees and organizations, small contributions committees, labor organizations and recipient committees, including Roseville mayor Bernasconi’s previous election committee. Many contributions organizations that have donated to Bartee are associated with firefighters and fire unions.

A little over $2,550 of Bartee’s campaign money has come from business entities, including those related to construction and development like Taylor Builders’ holding company.

No documents associated with Franks’ campaign are listed on Roseville’s campaign finance public portal. Franks has lived in Roseville for over three decades, where he has worked in the medical devices and services industry. He has been endorsed by the Placer County Republicans