Even though it’s considered an off-year election, there is still a lot of money being given to candidates.

This year, Island County residents have donated thousands of dollars to political candidates. It’s money that goes to fund newspaper and radio ads, campaign literature and all those campaign signs in yards and along roads.

Who is donating money to which candidates can say as much about about a particular candidate as anything in a campaign.

There’s a stark contrast, for example, between who is contributing to the two candidates for Legislative District 10 in the state House of Representatives race, according to forms candidates are required to file with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission.

Barbara Bailey, an Oak Harbor Republican, has raised more than $96,000 so far, which puts her in the top 10 fund-raisers among candidates for the Legislature. Her Democratic opponent, Eron Berg of LaConner, had raised $84,629 as of Oct. 8.

Bailey and Berg both received many small donations from individuals all over the district. What sets them apart are the larger donors.

It’s largely what one might expect, given each candidate’s political affiliations. Bailey has received thousands of dollars from large insurance agencies — particularly medical insurance companies — including Allstate, Physicians Insurance, Premera Blue Cross, Safeco and Pemco. More financial support has come in from large corporations, notably Pfizer, Chevron Texaco, Boise Cascade and Weyerhaeuser. She also admitted, in a recent candidates forum, to receiving money from tobacco companies.

Bailey’s financial supporters also include plenty of business-related political action committees and associations, such as Far West Agribusiness Association, the Washington Beer and Wine Wholesaler political action committee, the Washington Retail Association, the Washington Association of Realtors and the Skagit-Island Builders Association.

On the other hand, Berg has received monetary support from labor unions, including the Iron Workers District Council, Washington Teamsters, Laborers Local 278 and 901, Laborers International, the state Council of Firefighters and the Washington Federation of State Employees.

Berg, like many Democrats, also seems to have the support of teachers and school administrators. The Washington School Administrators union, the Washington School Principals union, state public employees unions and individual teachers and administrators have given him money.

Candidates for Island County positions rely much more on individual donors. Both incumbent Island County Commissioner Bill Thorn, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Bill Byrd, built their campaign war chests primarily with many small donations from residents.

As of Oct. 9, Thorn claimed to receive $13,460 in donations. Byrd claimed $9,858 as of Sept. 30.

Among the larger and notable donors to Byrd’s campaigns are the Washington Association of Realtors, the Skagit-Island Builders Association and the two county commissioners, Mac McDowell and Mike Shelton.

Thorn received money from several environment-minded groups, including the Whidbey Island No-Spray Coalition and John Graham of the Langley Giraffe Project.

In the race for Island County prosecutor, incumbent Greg Banks has raised nearly four times as much as challenger Kelly Barlean. Banks, a Democrat, raised over $26,000 by Oct. 8 and Republican Barlean raised $6,859, according to forms filed Oct. 15. Even so, during the past two weeks Bank’s campaign spending has exceeded revenues. Banks campaign organizer Larry Schaffer said he has had to charge some recent newspaper ads on his credit card.

The list of contributors to Banks’ campaign includes a large number of individual Whidbey islanders. Many different attorneys in the county gave him money, as did a couple of retired law-enforcement officers.

Barlean didn’t receive as much cash from individuals or lawyers, but he did get a sizeable donation from the Oak Harbor Police Association. Also, former county prosecutor Bill Hawkins and Jan Smith, the chief administrative deputy in the sheriff’s office, supported him financially.

Ironically, County Treasurer Maxine Sauter, a Republican, seemed a little confused in filling out her PDC financial forms. One form, “B amended,” states she received $3,598 of in-kind contributions from herself. Then on another form, she wrote that she received $3,598 of in-kind contributions from the South Whidbey Republican Women’s Club.

In addition, Sauter wrote in her C-3 amended form that she received a total of $3,598 in donations, but another form states she received $700 in cash from Republican women’s clubs — plus the $3,598. The numbers don’t add up.

However, Island County Auditor Suzanne Sinclair said the way Sauter filled out her form was not as bad as it looked. She said it was properly done.

Sauter’s Democratic challenger Linda Riffe had raised $10,670 by Oct. 8. Her contributions come mainly from individuals living on Whidbey Island.