Who’s funding Lincoln City Council candidate campaigns?

The Abridged version:

• In November, two City Council races will appear on Lincoln ballots, both featuring an incumbent and a challenger.
• Nearly $20,000 has been poured into the District 1 race between incumbent Holly Andreatta and Christine Colvin Treshchuk, while over $11,000 has gone into the District 2 race between incumbent Ben Brown and Spencer Short. Incumbents have significantly outraised their challengers.
• Most campaign contributions have come from individuals, though significant funding from the building and development industry has been funneled into the District 2 race.

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Two Lincoln City Council members face challengers vying for seats in the upcoming November election. Where are the candidates getting their campaign money from?

The majority of contributions has come from individuals, with a significant amount of funding for one campaign coming from an interest group representing regional homebuilders. None of the four City Council candidates has reported contributions directly from private companies.

Here is a breakdown of the Lincoln candidates on your ballot and their funding sources.

District 1

Two-term Councilmember Holly Andreatta will face new candidate Christine Colvin Treshchuk in a race for her District 1 seat, which represents northwest Lincoln.

Andreatta, who has lived in Lincoln since childhood, has held the seat since 2018 and previously served as mayor. She has also been an educator for decades, teaching at local public and private schools before becoming an adjunct professor at Epic Bible College in Sacramento. She works at William Jessup University and is an associate pastor at a local church. Before launching her reelection campaign, Andreatta ran for a seat on the Placer County Board of Supervisors earlier this year, losing to sitting Supervisor Shanti Landon.

In this race, Andreatta has been endorsed by all four fellow Lincoln City Council members, including Ben Brown, who is also up for reelection this year. She has also been endorsed by multiple members of the Lincoln planning commission, several local government officials in nearby cities and towns, the Placer County Republican Party and the Sacramento Area Firefighters union Local 522.

According to campaign filings between the start of Andreatta’s City Council campaign and Sept. 19, she has raised about $16,817. About 55% of contributions have come from individuals, including about $2,929 that Andreatta donated from her earlier county supervisor campaign. Other individual donors include people associated with the Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce and Domeyko Taylor Holding Co., the parent company of Taylor Builders. Andreatta’s remaining City Council campaign donations have come from the firefighters union and the United Auburn Indian Community.

Challenger Colvin Treshchuk has lived in Lincoln for two decades, where she has owned and operated small businesses. She previously served as chair of Lincoln’s parks and recreation committee. In this race, her endorsements include Placer County Supervisor Landon, the Sacramento-Sierra’s Building and Construction Trades Council and the Placer Business Alliance.

Between the start of her campaign and Sept. 19, Colvin Treshchuk’s campaign raised $2,899, including about $1,286 in loans from herself. The rest of her campaign funding has come from individual donors, including former Lincoln Mayor Stan Nader and former Placer County Supervisor Robert Weygandt. Weygandt serves on the board of the Gathering Inn, which is pursuing a controversial Lincoln project that Colvin Treshshuk opposes.

District 2

District 2 is based in northeast Lincoln. Incumbent Councilmember Ben Brown will face challenger Spencer Short in the November election.

Brown has served on the City Council since 2022. Outside of government service, he has worked as a local business owner and has served on multiple Placer County boards and committees. His endorsements include all four of the other Lincoln City Council members, state Assembly Member Joe Patterson, the firefighters union and the Placer County Republican Party.

From the start of his campaign to Sept. 19, Brown raised $7,774, according to campaign finance filings. About 29% in campaign money has come from individual donors, including one person associated with the Lewis Group of development companies.

Brown’s remaining funding comes from a single $5,500 donation from a political action committee representing the North State Building Industry Association, which advocates for policies supporting home development in the Sacramento area.

Brown’s opponent, Short, is an attorney who has lived in Lincoln for five decades. He is no political newcomer in Lincoln — Short represented District 2 on the City Council from 2000 to 2016. Aside from running his own law firm, Short serves on the board of Project Go, a regional affordable housing nonprofit.

As of Sept. 19, Short’s campaign has reported about $3,553 in campaign funding, including a $750 loan to himself. All remaining contributions have come from individuals, including Nader, the former city mayor.

For a complete rundown of what is on your ballot and each of the Lincoln City Council candidates’ stances on key community issues, you can check out Abridged by PBS KVIE’s 2026 voter guide.