LETTER TO THE EDITOR:  HOW MUCH ARE COUNTY COMMISSION CANDIDATES SPENDING LOCALLY?

Written By Johnnt Kincaid

APRIL 24. 2024

I feel that you might be able to learn something about a political candidate by looking at their campaign finance reports. It not only tells who contributes to a campaign; you can also tell a lot about them by who and where they spend their campaign money.

When candidates buy locally they will build positive relationships with local businesses when they spend the majority of their campaign dollars here.

Since the first of the year, over $200,000 has been given to the Republican candidates for Vanderburgh County Commissioner. Amy Canterbury, the newcomer to politics, started with no campaign funds and managed to raise $153,676 between January 1 and April 16, 2024. Political veteran Cheryl Musgrave started the year with $103,209 and raised $52,758 for the primary. This gave each campaign about $150,000 to use to persuade your vote.

Where did each candidate spend their $150,000? First, they both kept money in reserve; money that they might spend either in a final push for the primary or hang onto for the general election.

Amy Canterbury spent $110,010 during the four months since the first of the year. $42,500 went to Matchstick Media, an Ohio media consulting firm that does creative for political campaigns throughout the country. Another $10,250 was paid for a polling company from Washington DC, and $23,835 went to KAP Print in Texas for direct mail. Canterbury’s total out-of-market spending was $75,585 or 70% of total spending.

County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave spent a total of $56,055. Her campaign spent the overwhelming majority of its dollars locally, instead of using an out-of-market media buyer. Several payments were made to the corporate headquarters of the local media outlets, and the only truly out-of-town expenditure was $500 company for data. The total out-of-town spending by the Musgrave campaign was less than one percent of her campaign budget.

Political officials and candidates need to foster positive relationships with local businesses. There’s no better way to promote local businesses than to do business with them. Spending money locally shows that you are committed to the success of our community.

FOOTNOTE: This article was posted by the City-County Observer without bias or editing.