Inside Hillary Schieve’s $417,000, 2022 Campaign Machine for Mayor of Reno
Where the Money Went: A look at what takes to get into the Mayor’s Office in Reno. Candidates take notice as the 2026 election approaches and people wonder why.
Oct 27, 2025
When Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve ran for re-election in 2022, her campaign raised $340,954.94 and spent $417,827.81.
That level of spending isn’t just a line on a report. It tells a deeper story about how Reno’s most recognizable politician built, financed, and sustained her brand through a small circle of consultants, marketing firms, and PR specialists who profited handsomely.
Note: the difference was “in kind” donations.
A Campaign Built on Media, Not Volunteers
Schieve’s financial filings show that nearly every dollar spent went to professional consultants and advertising firms. There were no signs of a grassroots operation — no reimbursements for canvassers, phone banking, or community field staff. However, union workers might have done this work.
Instead, her campaign was engineered as a public relations enterprise, designed to shape perception and control narrative to mobilize voters.
Where the $417,827 Went
$159,245 (56%) went to consulting firms.
$199,075 (44%) went to media production and advertising buys.
Less than $2,000 — about 0.5% — was spent on digital tools, fees, or operational costs.
Just $6,500 (1.5%) was used for event hosting and hospitality.
In Total, 99 cents of every dollar flowed to professional vendors.
The Consultants Who Got Paid
Two names dominate Schieve’s ledgers: Changing Dynamics and Fong Menante Media.
Changing Dynamics, a Reno-based consulting and public relations outfit, received $159,245 during the campaign. Payments peaked in the final two quarters of 2022 — $45,465 in August and another $113,780 between October and December. These figures suggest full-service control of Schieve’s communications, crisis management, and campaign strategy.
Fong Menante Media, another Reno firm tied to regional political advertising, earned roughly $146,860, handling video production, media placement, and branding materials. The company’s work spanned spring through fall — nearly half of the campaign’s visible media budget.
Tissot Solutions, a Las Vegas compliance and data consultancy, was paid nearly $19,000 for voter analytics and filings.
Add in Three Sticks Productions, Kimera Collective, and Lamar Advertising, and the combined media ecosystem behind Schieve’s image accounted for over $358,000 — or 90 percent of all expenditures.
The Rise of Riley Sutton, and Changing Dynamics, Reno’s Most Connected Political Consultant
Lavish Events, Elite Venues
Though small in proportion, the campaign’s hospitality expenses reveal the social dimension of Schieve’s political style.
She hosted gatherings at Rum Sugar Lime, The Emerson, and Potluck Nevada — all upscale Reno venues known for craft cocktails and curated aesthetics.
Catering by Roundabout Catering added another $3,372. These weren’t grassroots rallies in community centers; they were polished networking events attended by the city’s professional class.
Political Alliances and Reciprocity
While Schieve’s campaign drew heavily from large donors, it also distributed small contributions to political allies — $500 each to Assemblywoman Sarah Peters and local Democrat Alex Goff, and $250 apiece to Mariluz Garcia and Adam Mayberry.
These outlays, while minor, show a deliberate alignment with the Washoe County Democratic establishment — the same circle that has backed Schieve’s policy agenda and her recent endorsements. It’s the Jessica Sferazza clique.
The Vanishing Grassroots
For all its scale, Schieve’s campaign reported just $3,407.85 in donations of $100 or less — less than one percent of total fundraising.
The absence of small donors tells a story of insulation. The campaign relied not on voter enthusiasm or neighborhood outreach, but on a small network of high-dollar contributors and consulting retainers that turned her mayoral run into a polished, closed-loop PR operation.
Mayor Schieve: Promises, Claims, but Missing Facts
Overspending and Optics
By the end of 2022, Schieve had outspent her fundraising by nearly $77,000, which was made up of “in-kind” contributions. Her ending fund balance was $15,503 — pocket change compared to what she’d paid her consultants.
The financial pattern matches the political one: optics first, accountability later. Every quarter, the campaign spent about $150,000, almost as if on autopilot.
Her team maintained the same cash-burn rhythm through spring, summer, and fall — while fundraising lagged.
Possible Conflicts Worth Watching
Both Changing Dynamics and Fong Menante Media have operated within Reno’s civic ecosystem — occasionally overlapping with city projects, promotional events, or nonprofits supported by the Mayor’s office.
If either firm held city contracts or subcontracted for publicly funded initiatives during or after Schieve’s campaign, the overlap would raise potential conflict-of-interest concerns. The lack of disclosure surrounding these relationships is part of what makes campaign finance transparency so vital in local politics.
🧴 Mayor Schieve and Doctor Hovenic: Spooge, and Scrutiny
A Mirror of Schieve’s Mayoral Tenure
Schieve’s campaign finances mirror her tenure at City Hall:
Image-driven,
Consultant-managed,
Light on grassroots participation,
And closely tied to an inner circle of professional communicators.
Where other candidates invest in field operations or voter contact, Schieve invested in optics. Her campaign functioned less as a political movement and more as a personal brand-maintenance enterprise, carefully curated by the same PR network that now shapes narratives for some of Reno’s other candidates.
The Wild and Crazy Legacy of Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve
The Takeaway - Candidates Take Note
In Total, Hillary Schieve’s 2022 campaign spent over $417,000 — more than any mayoral contender in Reno’s modern history — with nearly every dollar going to PR and media consultants.
The campaign’s financial trail reveals not a grassroots machine but a media apparatus, one that blurred the lines between city politics and professional image-making.
It’s a reminder that in Reno, public relations often substitutes for public engagement — and that the cost of maintaining political control can be measured not only in votes but in invoices. It’s no wonder that voters feel left out.