The Daily from Ball State Unified Media
NEWS

Mayoral candidates say campaign efforts speak louder than finance report results

Money is critical in politics, but it's not everything, representatives for Mayor Sharon McShurley said.

They're predicting a win for her despite the fact she lost the fundraising battle against Dennis Tyler.

"We don't feel like the fundraising means more votes," said Debbie Irwin, McShurley's campaign manager. "At this point it's up to the voters."

Tyler, the Democratic challenger in Muncie's mayoral race, has out-raised the incumbent mayor by about $20,000, campaign finance reports show.

The reports, which were issued Oct. 14, show that McShurley raised more than $130,000 for her campaign for re-election. State Rep. Tyler, raised more than $151,000.

Irwin also said the McShurley campaign is not letting the difference in funds change their strategy.

"We had our game plan as far as our strategy about how to do the campaign, and we've held to that," Irwin said.

Tyler said he also does not feel that there is any advantage created by the difference in funds.

"I think the real difference will be who gets the vote out," he said.

In terms of expenditures, McShurley, a Republican, has spent more than $85,000 during her campaign. Tyler spent $133,000, more than the incumbent raised.

Irwin said two additional fundraisers were held by the McShurley campaign since the report was issued.

Tyler said since the report was released, his campaign has purchased more advertising space in radio, television and print.

The finance reports focus on campaign income and spending made between April 8 and Oct. 15, but the totals also reflect money the candidates already had on hand before that period.

Because both candidates are incumbents to their respective offices, the candidates can include money leftover from their previous campaigns and any money raised during their terms.

Tyler's higher totals may also reflect the fact that he had an opponent in the May primary elections for the Democratic ticket.

McShurley ran unopposed in the primary.

A major difference in the collections of the two candidates comes from the contributions of labor organizations. The Tyler campaign collected $13,625 from such organizations. The McShurley campaign received no donations from labor groups.

Political action committees also leaned in favor of Dennis Tyler. The representative collected $23,750 from these organizations, while McShurley's campaign collected $7,495 from PACs.

The McShurley campaign had an advantage over the Tyler campaign in two areas: collections from individual donors and from corporations.

McShurley received $12,550 from corporations as opposed to the $8,600 received by Tyler's campaign.

Golf outings, a perennial event for candidates in the area, brought in the largest source of donations for Tyler. Funds raised from the outings totaled $78,925.

A large portion of the funds each of the candidates raises goes into advertising. McShurley spent $25,703 for advertising, with the majority of that money being spent on print and billboard advertisements. The Tyler camp spent $28,363, with a large portion of that going toward radio advertising.

Money donated to non-profit organizations also was recorded in the reports. McShurley donated $635, while Tyler paid $4,900 to organizations.

Members of McShurley's team will be deployed to polling sites today, and the mayor will visit each one to reach out to any last-minute decision voters.

Tyler will also have his team at the polling sites.

"We'll have at least two or three people at each polling site," he said. "We'll try to keep every precinct covered, keep the phone banks open and hopefully we reach a few more people."


Read More

Comments

More from The Daily

Connect with The Daily

Sponsored Stories

More from our partners

This Week's Digital Issue

Loading Recent Classifieds...