(Michael Leonard) – Reno mayoral candidate Eddie Lorton has run for office 4 times over the past dozen years. His campaigns have attracted a small following and some online engagement, particularly on Facebook.
But the public record tells a deeper story of failure to adapt.
A review of five campaign finance filings submitted to the Nevada Secretary of State, from 2014, 2018, 2020, 2022, and the current 2025 campaign, shows that Lorton’s campaigns have followed a consistent financial pattern over 12 years.
Those filings reveal three defining characteristics of his campaigns:
• heavy self-funding
• a relatively small donor network
• spending focused primarily on advertising on Facebook.
A few signs here and there won’t help a campaign when no one knows what you stand for.
A decade of fundraising totals
Across five campaigns, Lorton has raised roughly the same amount of money:
That level of fundraising is significantly lower than the war chests typically built by well-organized citywide campaigns backed by large donor coalitions. Much of the money goes unspent and is returned to Lorton.
Grassroots fundraising remains small.
Eddie has a few loyalists, not a large base, and this hasn’t changed over the years.
Even in the strongest year, small donations accounted for only a few thousand dollars. In percentage terms, grassroots donations typically accounted for 2 – 4% of the campaign’s total fundraising.
This shows that Lorton’s campaign relies primarily on self-funding rather than a large base of contributors, despite Lorton claiming to represent the little people.
In this article, I take a deeper look at Eddie’s 2026 campaign and show how it’s all about getting attention and not really about a winning strategy.
The 2026 campaign is self-funded
The 2025 filing for the 2026 campaign shows:
• $165,517 raised total
• $150,000 loaned by Lorton
That means over 90% of the campaign’s funding came directly from the Lorton.
Travel around Reno and see if you can find the strategically placed Lorton signs.
Eddie Lorton self-funding by campaign year
Key finding – self-funding
Average self-funding: 91.84% of all campaign money
Total raised across all campaigns: $750,050
Total contributed by Eddie: $686,265
In this article, I show how Eddie writes muddled rants and spreads misinformation on Facebook, and mostly reshares memories without any purpose beyond attention seeking.
A small but recurring donor network
Examples appearing in the filings include:
• business owners
• local political donors
• Republican-aligned groups
• small political PACs
For example, the 2022 report includes donations from:
• Christopher Kassity
• Tom Reviglio
• Deana Smith
The 2025 filing similarly includes mid-range donations from individuals and businesses, such as:
• Answerwest
• Joseph Gilbert
• Barsanti Insurance Agency
• NV Wildlife Coalition PAC
These donations typically range between $250 and $1,000, reinforcing the pattern of a modest donor circle, mainly friends and family.
How Lorton spends campaign money
The majority of campaign spending goes toward advertising and social media.
Across multiple campaigns, the filings show spending on:
• Facebook advertising
• radio advertising
• printed campaign materials
For example, the 2022 report shows numerous Facebook ad purchases, many in $900 increments, suggesting repeated boosted social media ads.
Other advertising expenditures include:
• International Minute Press (campaign printing)
• Traffic Builders marketing services
• Local media advertising
This strategy reflects a campaign focused heavily on social media and advertising, with ads featuring Eddie.
Eddie has fundraisers at people’s houses, and the same 25 people show up. It’s more of a social thing than a political campaign fundraiser.
Limited spending on campaign infrastructure
Modern campaigns spend significant amounts on tools such as:
• voter database systems
• text messaging programs
• canvassing operations
• direct mail targeting
• large campaign staff teams
Those expenditures appear only minimally, if at all, in the filings reviewed. Instead, the spending pattern shows a campaign structure centered primarily on advertising.
A slight shift in the 2025 campaign
• MailerLite, an email marketing system
• Anedot, an online donation platform
Those tools are commonly used by campaigns to build email lists and process online donations. The spending amounts are relatively small and suggest the campaign tried digital outreach methods but has not updated its outreach strategy.
This means that over 12 years and five campaigns, Eddie Lorton has not built an email list or phone list. He mainly posts on Facebook, which is more about personal exposure and ranting to a few followers than about building a voter base.
Eddie’s fundraiser flyers are posted on his Facebook page with limited response, and a few friends send them out via email. He doesn’t use email or text message systems that serious campaigns use.
What the numbers show
In 2018, the campaign spent almost everything, leaving about $54.
In 2020, about $43,231 remained after the City Council race.
In 2022, the mayoral campaign ended with about $69,336 remaining.
In 2025, the campaign has spent very little so far and still has about $163,329 on hand.
Total remaining across all campaigns
Total remaining funds: $330,457
That means roughly 44% of all campaign money raised across these filings remained unspent at the reporting points.
Eddie likes to show up at other people’s events, cajole them into posing with him, and act as if they are supporters. Eddie is well known for this hijacking tactic.
The long-term pattern
Across multiple races, Lorton’s campaigns have been characterized by:
• no increase in fundraising totals
• heavy candidate self-funding
• a relatively small donor network
• limited grassroots donations
• spending focused primarily on advertising and social media
The financial filings make one thing clear:
Eddie Lorton has been running the same type of campaign for 12 years and across 5 races.
Eddie has lost by a wide margin in each race, but he has not changed his campaign strategy.
His campaign appears to be about Eddie Lorton protesting and getting attention, not about winning the race.
This article was originally published via MikesRenoReport.com on 4/14/26. The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views.
