Anecdotal: local election spending

[konapoppy]

On nextdoor and Facebook, and picked up in hyper local news, there has been a lot of chatter about how much money is funneling in to local elections (e.g., mayor, school board seats). Are you finding this where you are too?

I donated for the first time to a local campaign. The opposition is pretty scary.

[brooklyn]

I’m running for town council and I was really surprised at how much it costs to run a campaign. I’m definitely going to be more focused on donating to local campaigns in the future.

[konapoppy]

Nov 4, 2024 11:18:44 GMT -5 brooklyn said:

I’m running for town council and I was really surprised at how much it costs to run a campaign. I’m definitely going to be more focused on donating to local campaigns in the future.

Good luck!!

[wawa]

Nov 4, 2024 10:36:49 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

On nextdoor and Facebook, and picked up in hyper local news, there has been a lot of chatter about how much money is funneling in to local elections (e.g., mayor, school board seats). Are you finding this where you are too?

I donated for the first time to a local campaign. The opposition is pretty scary.

YEP.  Article is more about endorsements, but also touches on funding.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/carroll-county-school-board-election-3YBHPQL5OVDA5M2CAWERR6NIPM/

[tcu2003]

Yes! I don’t know numbers, but it’s extra this year. The mom of one of my kids’ friends is running for our local state house rep against a Republican incumbent. We need to flip 2 seats in my state to break the Republican super-majority and this seat is considered flippable. The Republican only won by a couple of hundred votes 2 years ago. We have been getting multiple flyers daily for 6 weeks for one or both candidates, and I know our friend’s campaign didn’t send any herself until a couple of weeks ago due to cost. Tons of outside (and statewide) PACs are throwing money at this one.

[thejen626]

I ran for office in 2020. I spent $2400 total. My opponent spent FORTY FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS to smear my name. It was wild. I still got 41% of the vote 🤣😇🥳

[winemaker06]

It’s so very expensive to run! I’ve paid attention to the Board of Ed race itself in the past, but never even thought about donating.

Now I’m helping with a campaign, and the average raised is well over $30k in my area. Endorsements from other area candidates help when they come with funds, but I appreciate the little random person $10-$25 donations so much more now!
I do think it will make me donate a little in the future. Reaching the people who don’t pay attention to down ballot issues is tough.

[konapoppy]

Nov 5, 2024 20:41:29 GMT -5 thejen626 said:

I ran for office in 2020. I spent $2400 total. My opponent spent FORTY FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS to smear my name. It was wild. I still got 41% of the vote 🤣😇🥳

😱

[winemaker06]

I also didn’t realize how many developers and such contribute! To get a school board or county council person in their pocket. I thought that only happened at higher levels.

[terpsfan]

Nov 4, 2024 12:02:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

Nov 4, 2024 10:36:49 GMT -5 konapoppy said:

On nextdoor and Facebook, and picked up in hyper local news, there has been a lot of chatter about how much money is funneling in to local elections (e.g., mayor, school board seats). Are you finding this where you are too?

I donated for the first time to a local campaign. The opposition is pretty scary.

YEP.  Article is more about endorsements, but also touches on funding.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/carroll-county-school-board-election-3YBHPQL5OVDA5M2CAWERR6NIPM/

Carroll County is wild. I’m really not happy at the early results of D5 HoCo BOE.

[mrspez07]

I saw very few local candidates or ballot measure signs around town, other than the Trump proxy running for a state rep position. People didn't put their trump signs up, they put this lady's sign instead.

[winemaker06]

Nov 5, 2024 21:44:16 GMT -5 terpsfan said:

Nov 4, 2024 12:02:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

YEP.  Article is more about endorsements, but also touches on funding.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/carroll-county-school-board-election-3YBHPQL5OVDA5M2CAWERR6NIPM/

Carroll County is wild. I’m really not happy at the early results of D5 HoCo BOE.

Did you think it would be a wider gap? At least it isn’t D1!

[ellipses84]

I didn’t read the article but have some anecdotal stories.

My ex-bf from HS ran for Governor in a state Primary. I’m barely acquaintance level in contact with him and this kind of came out of nowhere so IDK what his motivation was but there was a huge candidate pool. He was in no way a serious top candidate but he wasn’t in the bottom of the pool with the crazies and got a fraction of a percent of votes…. Anyway, my BFF works in the state capitol so she knew how to look up all the public info and he hardly spent any money on his campaign…like he must have had some services donated because he only spent like $1k and had a pretty decent website with video interviews and paid some necessary filing fees. This was in my home state.

In CA I met with a candidate running for a local low level city office. There was a crazy incumbent R running unopposed which is rare where we live and our neighborhood got redistricted into his zone. She has some city work experience but had never run for any office. She said to set up her campaign in a way she felt was right and legal, with an accountant and lawyer, her startup costs were like $10k. She had the Democrat party support (although her particular position doesn’t say D/R on the ballot) but that didn’t really come with everything I assumed it did. Like, if the Our City Democrats were sending out a mailer endorsing candidates, they’d ask her if she wanted to be on it, and if she did she could pay $4k to send it to X houses, and that might be 8 cents/ house. We told her we didn’t think personal mailers were too worth it because most people toss them, but I do use the Democrat guide mailer and since the ballot didn’t say D/R that one was probably worth it. The one I got had her in a list on the back but not a photo on the front so I’m not sure if they do that for free and if they we’re only asking for $$ for the photo. Anyway I thought it was fascinating and it definitely motivated me to support smaller candidates who are basically self funding their own campaigns. She said fundraising was the hardest part.