What is the worth of a man?
More campaign finance fun!
I could go on about this stuff forever. Mainly, because there's a huge disparity between how much is spent on legislative campaigns in South Dakota. You have some candidates who will raise tons of money, and you have those that won't spend a dime.
Think it's us Republicans who always dominate in campaign spending? <BEEP!> Wrong answer. The #1 top spender for the legislative general elections this last year was Democrat Mike Wilson who spent $42,514 in his House race. In that same district, Alan Hanks came in at #5 spending $27, 137 in the general.
Now, I will admit that I don't believe those figures count the primaries. In the primary race for that district's (32) Senate seat, Elli Schwiesow spent $31, 284. And Stan Adelstein spent $110,089.39. You know the Rapid City advertisers must have been loving that stuff. (Is it any wonder why advertising taxes are lobbied against so aggressively?)
Anyway, So who were the top ten legislative spenders for last November's election?
(Sorry. I forgot Dick Kelly at #10 with 19,972) Three out of the top ten did it all for naught, and lost their races. Just for the sake of doing so, we'll also include the bottom 10 in our examination.
Kind of reversed here. 7 of the botton ten people didn't get elected.
Clearly, the libertarians and the constitution party people don't know squat about campaigns in the real world. And granted, some of the people from the other political parties in the bottom ten didn't have races. But then there are those who did. What were they thinking?
If a candidate isn't prepared to raise and spend the money, I can think of at least 4 or 5 better and less time consuming ways to publicly humiliate yourself without having to go through the trouble of collecting the names on a nominating petition and submitting them to the secretary of state. (#1, Run naked through the streets. #2, Start a weblog...)
What's probably the best figure to look at in all of this? Republican Senate candidates spent an average of $10,489 in competing for their seats. Democratic Senate candidates averaged $7026.40. (And our continued hold on the Senate should say something).
What's the purpose of all of this? It goes back to some of the gasps I hear from first timers when they ask me "how much do you think it will cost me to run a race for_________."
With the local ballot issue here in Pierre when I said I needed $3-5000 to run it right, I got about $2000 (including in-kind), and we lost by 27 votes. Another race where I said we need $5000 minimum for the primary, and the candidate said "If that's what we need, that's what we'll raise", and he did it - We creamed the competition.
It's something that all South Dakota political candidates need to come to a realization on. If you want to run a political race in South Dakota, there are certain things you need to do. And doing those things costs money.
As the summer winds down, we're actually going to move into the inevitable candidate recruitment season in about October or November. It might seem pretty early, but it's not. It's when you're recruiting in March of the election year that things get a little dicey. Plans are going to be made, and strategies are going to be mapped out.
The best candidates are going to start early with realistic goals, and fundraising should be number one. If you're approached to work on one of the campaigns or to be a candidate, don't think in the hundreds. Think in terms of thousands. Because that's what it costs to run a campaign in South Dakota nowadays.
And if you come across a candidate foolish enough to say they "aren't going to spend $1000 because EVERYONE knows them already," pass them by and volunteer or give your donation to their opponent. It will be money better spent.
Think it's us Republicans who always dominate in campaign spending? <BEEP!> Wrong answer. The #1 top spender for the legislative general elections this last year was Democrat Mike Wilson who spent $42,514 in his House race. In that same district, Alan Hanks came in at #5 spending $27, 137 in the general.
Now, I will admit that I don't believe those figures count the primaries. In the primary race for that district's (32) Senate seat, Elli Schwiesow spent $31, 284. And Stan Adelstein spent $110,089.39. You know the Rapid City advertisers must have been loving that stuff. (Is it any wonder why advertising taxes are lobbied against so aggressively?)
Anyway, So who were the top ten legislative spenders for last November's election?
| Candidate | Party | Chamber | Total Expenditures |
| Wilson, Mike | Democratic | House | $42,514 |
| Dempster, Thomas | Republican | Senate | $35,942 |
| Bogue, Eric | Republican | Senate | $28,015 |
| Hanks, Alan | Republican | House | $27,137 |
| Adelstein, Stanford | Republican | Senate | $23,930 |
| LaPointe, Michael | Republican | Senate | $23,908 |
| Faehn, Bob | Republican | House | $23,560 |
| Ford, Bruce | Democratic | House | $23,530 |
| Earley, William | Republican | Senate | $21,163 |
(Sorry. I forgot Dick Kelly at #10 with 19,972) Three out of the top ten did it all for naught, and lost their races. Just for the sake of doing so, we'll also include the bottom 10 in our examination.
| Rudebusch, Larry | Libertarian | House | $143 |
| Brunner, Thomas | Republican | House | $1 |
| Anderson, Shawn | Democratic | House | $0 |
| Cournoyer Jr, Stephen | Republican | Senate | $0 |
| Kloucek, Frank | Democratic | Senate | $0 |
| Libby, Patrick | Constitution | Senate | $0 |
| Olson, Ryan | Republican | House | $0 |
| Spry, Theresa | Democratic | House | $0 |
| Turner, Chris | Republican | Senate | $0 |
| Wisnowski, Kristin | Democratic | House | $0 |
Kind of reversed here. 7 of the botton ten people didn't get elected.
Clearly, the libertarians and the constitution party people don't know squat about campaigns in the real world. And granted, some of the people from the other political parties in the bottom ten didn't have races. But then there are those who did. What were they thinking?
If a candidate isn't prepared to raise and spend the money, I can think of at least 4 or 5 better and less time consuming ways to publicly humiliate yourself without having to go through the trouble of collecting the names on a nominating petition and submitting them to the secretary of state. (#1, Run naked through the streets. #2, Start a weblog...)
What's probably the best figure to look at in all of this? Republican Senate candidates spent an average of $10,489 in competing for their seats. Democratic Senate candidates averaged $7026.40. (And our continued hold on the Senate should say something).
What's the purpose of all of this? It goes back to some of the gasps I hear from first timers when they ask me "how much do you think it will cost me to run a race for_________."
With the local ballot issue here in Pierre when I said I needed $3-5000 to run it right, I got about $2000 (including in-kind), and we lost by 27 votes. Another race where I said we need $5000 minimum for the primary, and the candidate said "If that's what we need, that's what we'll raise", and he did it - We creamed the competition.
It's something that all South Dakota political candidates need to come to a realization on. If you want to run a political race in South Dakota, there are certain things you need to do. And doing those things costs money.
As the summer winds down, we're actually going to move into the inevitable candidate recruitment season in about October or November. It might seem pretty early, but it's not. It's when you're recruiting in March of the election year that things get a little dicey. Plans are going to be made, and strategies are going to be mapped out.
The best candidates are going to start early with realistic goals, and fundraising should be number one. If you're approached to work on one of the campaigns or to be a candidate, don't think in the hundreds. Think in terms of thousands. Because that's what it costs to run a campaign in South Dakota nowadays.
And if you come across a candidate foolish enough to say they "aren't going to spend $1000 because EVERYONE knows them already," pass them by and volunteer or give your donation to their opponent. It will be money better spent.
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