If campaign contributions are any indication, John Plasse must feel pretty confident heading into today's election for District 1 county supervisor.

The 49-year-old former Folsom jewelry store owner, who lives just outside of Jackson, has outraised and outspent his competition, according to filings that were due at the Amador County Elections Office May 22.

"We're proud," said a happy Jeannie Plasse, John's wife and treasurer. "This is phenomenal for us."

Most of the candidate's contributions, totaling $31,110 from March 18 through May 7 and $43,951 overall, came from individuals donating relatively small amounts, meaning Plasse not only ended up with the most money but the most donors as well.

"They were not huge sums," Jeannie said, adding that most of the donations came from retirees, ranchers and working professionals, "just everyday people." Three of the largest donations came from individuals.

Agriculture Commissioner Mike E. Boitano donated $1,620 toward a barbecue dinner, retired Granite Bay resident Dan Line paid $1,100 for a raffle prize and Jackson painter Mike Scapuzzi gave $1,000.

"It just adds up," Jeannie said.

The largest gift came from the candidate himself, who donated $12,830 worth of jewelry to auction off at a campaign fundraising event.

This represents a turnaround from the last filing deadline in March, when Plasse was trailing competitor John Gonsalves, a county planning commissioner. Jeannie said her husband's campaign hadn't begun actively soliciting until after that filing deadline.

At that time, Gonsalves had raised $18,618 to Plasse's $12,841. As of May 17, Gonsalves had increased his total to $25, 927, well behind his rival. His biggest donation came in the form of a $1,000 monetary contribution from Kirkwood Mountain Resort LLC. Gonsalves also received a $2,000 donation last year from Stanley Luckowicz of Mother Lode Real Investors.

The other major District 1 candidate, Jackson Mayor Rosalie Pryor Escamilla, still trailed the two Johns with $10,941 in total contributions, $8,721 of that in this filing period. The bulk of that - $5,000 - came from the Amador County Association of Realtors.

The association's board of directors was the one that made that decision, according to Executive Director Bob Wynne, based on the association's agreement with Pryor Escamilla's positions. "In this particular case, which is not unusual, Rosalie is a member of our organization, is well known, her policies are well known," he said.

Asked why the contribution came so late in the campaign, Wynne said it wasn't requested until that particular time. "When it was requested, it was met," he added.

The final District 1 candidate, Jackson software developer Ken Berry, reported no campaign contributions.

In the District 4 race, incumbent Supervisor Louis Boitano saw all $11,357 worth of his donations come in this filing period, while financial planner David Pincus was a shade behind at $11,309. That wasn't the total Pincus' filing statement showed, however, and when the Ledger Dispatch alerted the District 4 hopeful to the error, Pincus, a financial planner, said he would be filing an amended report Monday.

"We would have had misinformation out there and I don't want that," he said Friday. The political upstart raised all but $2,300 this filing period, with $5,272 worth of free advertising coming from Ledger Dispatch Publisher Jack Mitchell.

Asked to comment on that contribution, which was revealed in a May 16 Ledger commentary, Boitano's wife and campaign manager Cris said it spoke for itself. Most of Boitano's contributions came in the form of small $100 to $200 checks from local District 4 residents. Pincus said he also received modest contributions, but that he received them from people who didn't want to be reported and, thus, gave less than $100. Still, Pincus painted himself as the underdog in a race with Boitano, seeking his fourth term as supervisor.

"We'll see what happens," he said. "This has been a great learning experience."

Cris Boitano said she and her husband were "cautiously optimistic" heading into today's election.

As of Thursday, the elections office had received about 4,100 mail-in ballots. The office had sent out just under 10,000 in a county that sees roughly half its votes tallied by mail and a traditionally high voter turnout.

As for how campaign contributions were spent, most went toward getting the candidates' messages out to the voting public. Jeannie said her husband is a big advocate of advertising and tried to hit all mediums. "Advertising was a huge portion of our expenses," she said. "John's always been best at conveying his own message."

Pincus said he didn't have as solid a strategy. "I did what I could afford," he said. "I would have loved to have done more, but I had to pick and choose my battles."