Before campaign finance reports for the Annapolis fall elections came out Friday, two candidates in a five-way City Council race wanted me to know.

“93% of funds are from Maryland and 0% are from Florida,” Alderman Harry Huntley texted. “We had a total of 213 donations.”

What’s that about Florida?

“I think Ron is going to have a significant portion of his funds from Florida Republicans because that’s where he’s spent most of his political career.”

Ron Gunzburger, one of the Democrats hoping to take Huntley’s Ward 1 seat in the Sept. 16 primary, does indeed have lots of money from the Sunshine State. And Republicans are well represented, including a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.

“Frankly, the money I raised came from the friends, neighbors and coworkers I’ve had over the past 40 years (I was humbled to receive roughly $3,500 just from cops I had served with, for example),” Gunzberger emailed me.

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“Best of all,” he added, “I achieved this while taking: ZERO dollars from the downtown developers and their lawyers; ZERO dollars from city contractors; and ZERO dollars from any PACs and political committees.”

Huntley had all three.

Annapolis is a small town, where fewer than half of registered voters usually cast ballots in municipal races. How much money do you need to convince roughly 6,000 voters across eight wards?

Dollars are not votes, but campaign finance reports divine the momentum of the primary election and set parameters for November.

That’s what Gunzburger and Huntley wanted me to know, and what voters should ask as early voting begins next month.

Candidates say their money is good money, their financial supporters the right kind.

“Notable donors include Friends of Sarah Elfreth, Friends of Steuart Pittman, former Senator John Astle, Cindy Busch, famed sailor Gary Jobson, longtime local businessman Carroll Hynson, and Germantown-Homewood Community Association President Erin McCopp,” Huntley said.

Opponents’ money, they will say, is bad money, a manifestation of their faults.

“The nicest thing about it all: not a single one of these people will ever want anything — no favors at all — from the Annapolis City Council!” Gunzburger said.

Lots of people — journalists, political types, gadflies and curious voters — were asking for these reports.

“You could probably form a club of some sort and then just have one of you call me,” city spokesperson Mitchelle Stephenson said last week.

If dollars and cents are a measure of support, Jared Littmann, the former alderman running for mayor, is on the way to winning.

His $205,000 in donations, including more than $191,000 in cash, dramatically overshadows the more than $33,000 raised by his primary opponent, Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell Charles.

Both reported big-name Democrats and business owners, along with average city residents, family members and out-of-town friends.

It’s just that Littmann has lots more. He’s been campaigning for 20 months, locking down the moolah and the movers of public opinion. It’s an advantage that makes a statement, and his campaign knows that.

Littmann, a hardware store owner, has spent months laying out where he’ll lead the city, sometimes following Mayor Gavin Buckley and sometimes going his own way.

If his main message is vanilla — government should work better — that appears to be what people with wallets want after eight years of Buckley’s dreams for Annapolis.

Charles’ campaign is more soft-focused. She talks about her 12 years as an alderwoman, her work as a prosecutor and in Anne Arundel County schools. She talks about her family’s history in Annapolis since the Civil War.

Trailing them both is Bob O’Shea, the Republican candidate for mayor. A three-time candidate, he’s raised only $4,600 — more than half from his own pockets.

Most donors give in small amounts — $10 here, $100 there. A few dig deeper for the right candidate.

“I’ve kind of had that back and forth on political parties, with the different candidates,” said retired schools administrator Nancy Williamson, who’s been an independent, a Democrat, a Republican and now a Democrat again.

She never liked Buckley and considers Charles his successor, a vote for the status quo set by a mayor who broke the status quo.

In January, Williamson became one of the top individual contributors to this election, giving Littmann $2,500. She sees it as a message.

“I believe in you, and I’m going to open my checkbook to send you a signal that I support you,” she said.

That’s a common story in these reports: money follows money. Littmann has dozens of $1,000-plus donors. Charles, just four.

There’s less checkbook messaging in City Council races, where Ward 1 is the most crowded.

Huntley raised $31,000 to Gunzburger’s $26,000. That’s behind retired Adm. Frank Thorp in Ward 8, who faces no primary challenger and no Republican in November.

He raised $38,000 for the open seat, outpacing independent Will Cuna’s $6,000. Their race will be determined by roughly 3,000 registered voters.

Huntley, an agriculture policy expert, and Gunzburger, a former senior advisor to Gov. Larry Hogan, face Ben Bramsen, a private tutoring company executive, attorney Katie McDermott, and Genevieve Torri, who led Buckley’s 2021 campaign.

A Republican and an independent await in November.

Candidates have been talking about issues both buzzy and perennial: the planned $100 million remake of City Dock, short-term rentals and parking.

In their spin on finances, both candidates were right.

Huntley’s contributors include political action committees, city contractors — the firm running the Market House — and development industry figures such as attorney Alan Hyatt. Oh, and Buckley chipped in as well.

Gunzburger’s include Hogan, his wife, Yumi, and his real estate company. They include the lawyer suing the city over conditions at the Annapolis Housing Authority.

Contributors from Annapolis — or even close by — are far outnumbered by out-of-state friends.

There’s one donation he’s particularly proud of — $1,000 from a Florida Democrat named Suzanne Gunzburger.

“My mom maxed out to me!” he said.

It’s true. Mother’s love and money are great.

In the end, though, it’s only votes that count.

This column has been updated to include the correct date for the start of voting, Sept. 16.