INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — People have donated $560,000 so far to influence the races for county offices in 2012. If the August primary voting turnout is about what it was in 2008, that equals about $21 per voter. That’s much less than the $1.3 million raised by the end of the 2008 races, but for a community of only 138,000 people who also generously open their checkbooks for state and national candidates, it’s still a lot of cash to sink into elections for county posts.
Apart from the same political activists and glommers-on who attend every speech, forum and campaign event, most people never meet the candidates. Some vote on a hunch or on a personal liking for a candidate’s name or party, but most vote based at least on something they see or hear during the days and weeks leading up to the election.
Money means being able to blanket the county with signs and maybe billboards. It means being able to run print and broadcast advertising. It means being able to reach all-important “super voters” and absentee voters by mail, by door hanger or by robo-call.
A strong showing right out of the gate in terms of campaign fund-raising often deters potential competition, while a lack of cash in the bank can encourage rivals to enter the fray.
At the end of the last reporting period, which coincides with the exodus of snowbird s from the area, $467,000 had been raised by 18 candidates for a dozen county races from Sheriff to Mosquito Control District.
On top of that, the local Republican Party raised about $75,000 since the last election, the Democrats raised $12,000 and the Indian River Neighborhood Association Political Action Committee raised $7,500, bringing the total to more than $560,000 raised to influence local races.
Two of the constitutional officers and their challengers have sucked up 72 percent of all the money raised for local races.
As of March 31, Sheriff Deryl Loar raised $148,000 and his opponent Bill McMullen raised $86,000. Supervisor of Elections Leslie Swan raised $64,000 and her challenger Sandi Harpring brought in $38,000.
Despite the incumbents’ ability to elicit donations from constituents, both the sheriff and supervisor of elections races fall squarely in the too-close-to-call category right now, with roughly 100 days to go.
The sheriff’s primary is a re-match of 2008. McMullen might not have as much cash as his boss, but he’s got the solid support of the deputies and their families who want new leadership in the Sheriff’s Office.
Last time around, McMullen raised $129,000 to Loar’s $209,000 and McMullen got 25 percent of the vote to Loar’s 38 percent in a four-way Republican primary.
Democrat Shawn Bell, a law enforcement officer and native of Gifford who returned to Florida to run for sheriff, filed initial paperwork to run, but has not yet qualified. Bell will need to pay a filing fee of about $7,600 by June 8 to get on the ballot.
Supervisor of Elections candidate Sandi Harpring, a south beach resident and long-time staffer for Florida Rep. Debbie Mayfield, said she’s undeterred by the fact that she trails by $26,000 in campaign contributions.
“I was prohibited from fund-raising during the last quarter due to strict rules of the House of Representatives which prohibits legislative staff from fund-raising during the legislative session or any special session,” Harpring said. “Now that session is over, our fundraising has resumed and we are now ahead of our target. We have the winning message. We will have the financial strength. And most important of all – people in neighborhoods all over Indian River County have signed on to help with our campaign. You can’t put a monetary value on grassroots support.”
Tax Collector Carole Jean Jordan had collected more than $37,000 in campaign contributions, more than three times her main challenger, funeral director and former County Commissioner Tom Lowther, who reported nearly $12,000 raised from business owners and professionals.
Lowther also has the benefit of some non-financial backing from law enforcement and firefighter interests who generally supported him in several runs for office and are known to donate time and energy to a campaign.
Clerk of the Court candidate Jeff Smith reported raising nearly $40,000 and is still unopposed. Smith, who serves as Chief Deputy Clerk of Court, seems poised to move into his boss Jeff Barton’s job in November.
Incumbent Property Appraiser David Nolte has raised $7,920 to fend off real estate appraiser Thomas Dehn’s mostly self-financed campaign of $3,500.
Campaign reporting for the County Commissioners was not impressive, and not especially meaningful as latecomers entered the races in recent weeks. If the new candidates can raise tens of thousands of dollars in the quarter ending June 30, it may indicate that voters are restless and ready for a change.
Gary Wheeler announced on March 20 that he’s retiring in November, so he refunded the $600 he had raised plus what was left of the $500 he’d loaned himself.
So far Tim Zorc and Bea Gardner have filed paperwork to run for the open seat, and another potential candidate is expected to announce soon.
Incumbents Bob Solari and Wesley Davis will surely step up fundraising efforts, even if it’s only to collect small checks from lots of people – as much to get supporters solidly in their camps as to get their dollars in the bank.
Davis still stands unopposed for his north county seat with only $2,800 in contributions, but Solari has a primary challenger.
Solari, who had banked $22,200 by the end of last period, said, “I look forward to a spirited campaign,” when beachside resident and attorney Nick Thomas filed paperwork in late April. Thomas told 32963 he hopes to raise between $40,000 and $70,000 to mount a serious campaign against Solari. The two sparred for the first time last.
School Board incumbents appear to be quite confident, as Claudia Jimenez only raised $425 and Matt McCain a mere $100.
In 2008, McCain raised $46,000 and Jimenez raised $16,000 in the tight three-way contest with Ann Reuter and Charlie Wilson.
On the county court bench, Judge David Morgan and Judge Joe Wild also seem pretty comfortable in their robes, as neither has raised any campaign funds. Both men wrote themselves a check for $500 to cover basic campaign expenses.
Most races will be decided at the Aug. 14 primary. In the meantime, the Republicans running find themselves in the awkward position of needing to court Democratic votes, just in case. If no Democrats or non-party-affiliated candidates file to run, Democrats, Independents and other voters – who combined outnumber Republicans by nearly 5,000 votes – get to vote in the primary.
According to the Supervisor of Elections website, Indian River County has a total of 89,428 registered voters. Of those, 42,970 are registered Republicans, 26,064 are Democrats and 20,394 are labeled “other.”
Of the 42,970 registered Republicans, a portion of those presumably selected their party affiliation not by ideology, but for the ability to cast a vote in the local primaries. Another portion of the electorate ritualistically switches parties before the primaries to vote and then switches back to being a Democrat or an Independent.
