Let’s follow the money and take a look at the first campaign finance reports in for the Danville City Council candidates. These reports were due on Monday, April 16th and SouthsideCentral is the first to bring you a summary of what was filed.
We’re going to start with incumbent Larry Campbell. Here’s a list of donors that have given more than $100 to his campaign.
$200 – Larry Campbell Sr.
$250 – Eric Deaton
$200 – Louis Eliacin
$300 – Zachary Hairston
$150 – Ben Rippe
$500 – United Food & Workers International Union
Campbell has also had 29 donors of $100 or less for a total of 2273.99 on this report.
In this report cycle, Campbell reports incoming contributions of $3873.99 and has $3955.36 on hand.
Analysis: Campbell had no chance of losing and with this much cash on hand, he’s well stocked for the rest of the campaign. What’s this union money all about?
Next, we’ll go to challenger Thomas Motley. Motley has 2 contributors of more than $100.
$1000 – Fisher & Watkins Funeral Home
$200 – Derrick Mercer
Motley has had 1 contributor of $100 or less and that was for $50. Motley has ran 2 radio ads on WDVA and has given his campaign a personal loan of $600. In this report cycle, Motley reports incoming contributions of $1250 and has $720 on hand.
Analysis: One thousand dollars from Fisher & Watkins?!?! $200 from Derrick Mercer, the former head of the Coalition For a Safe Danville ?!?! (Remember that group? Mercer hasn’t been heard from since he stopped doing anything with them) Advertising on WDVA is advertising to the people that were going to vote for him anyway. Even with this money, I just don’t see Motley getting the traction that he needs to win a seat on Council in this election cycle.
Next, let’s go to incumbent Buddy Rawley. He’s reporting these contributions of more than $100…
$227 – Bonnae Buchanan
$150 – Ben Rippe
$150 – Mark Herman (should be Hermann)
$150 – Scott Batson
$150 – Joe Franks
$250 – Eric Deaton
$300 – Bill Barker
$150 – JEB International
$500 – George Buchanan
$200 – Robert Woodall
Rawley is reporting 30 contributions of $100 or less for a total of $1874. He’s got contributions of $4101 in this reporting period and has $4208.06 on hand.
Analysis: Wow. Buddy Rawley is a professional fund-raiser and he’s done his magic for his political campaign. All he has to do is use that money effectively and he’s starting to look like more of a sure thing. $4200 can go a long way with 14 days left on the clock.
Incumbent Mayor Sherman Saunders is next. He’s reporting contributions of more than $100 from:
$200 – Dorothy Batson
$250 – Eric Deaton
$150 – Ben Rippe
Saunders has 5 contributors of $100 or less for a total of $459. Saunders has given his campaign a personal loan of $966 and with total contributions of $1059 in this period, he has a cash-on-hand of $1746.80 on the books.
Analysis: That’s a respectable run of fundraising and it shows that Saunders is working hard to get re-elected.
Next, let’s go to incumbent Fred Shanks. He’s reporting one contribution of more than $100 and that’s a $300 one from his father. Shanks has listed 3 contributions of $100 of less for a total of $174. Shanks has given his campaign a personal loan of $105.52. He’s reporting contributions of $474 in this period, and has $274.82 for cash-on-hand.
Analysis: What the hell? Fred has a good chance of being re-elected but he’s got to do more in fundraising than this.
Lee Vogler’s coming up now. He’s got 4 contributors at the more than $100 level, and they are:
$125 – Doris McCubbins
$105 – Ronald McCubbins
$300 – Wanda McCubbins (with a total of $800 so far)
$500 – Rhonda Vogler (with a total of $565.29 so far and these appear to be in-kind contributions)
Vogler is reporting 13 contributions of $100 or less for a total of $774.12 and is also reporting in-kind contributions from:
$125 – Gina’s Family Restaurant (total of $250 this year)
$150 – KG Graphics 150
$125 – Nikki’s Family Restaurant (total of $250 this year)
Vogler has reported that he’s received a total of $2269.41 in this reporting period and has a balance remaining of $1091.83 .
Analysis: Vogler may have the Young People’s support but he isn’t bringing in the Old People’s money so far. I expected Vogler to lead this field in fundraising but that’s not happening. He’s got plenty of money to make it to the finish line though.
Finally, Vice-Mayor David Luther has reported 3 contributions of more than $100:
$200 – Richard Barkhouser
$200 – George Buchanan
$250 – William Smith
Luther is also reporting 7 contributions of $100 or less for a total of $550. That gives Luther $1200 in contributions and he’s got a cash-on-hand of $1164.28 for his campaign.
Analysis: David Luther is running a campaign? I haven’t seen a sign nor heard his name mentioned in conversations… but then he probably doesn’t need that anyway.
Recap: In one of the quietest Danville City Council races I’ve ever seen, we’ve got a few surprises when we “follow the money”. Lee Vogler’s not getting the money I thought he would, Larry Campbell is sitting on a lot of campaign money (I’m still wondering about that union contribution), Buddy Rawley is a Fundraiser Extraordinaire and Fred Shanks is running a bargain-basement campaign. Sherman Saunders is at a normal level of money, David Luther is relatively quiet and Thomas Motley finally has some money to work with. I’m writing this on Monday, April 16th and that means there are 15 days until the election. We’ll have another update before the election and then we’ll have the World-Famous SouthsideCentral Endorsements.
What is amazing is Rev Mercer is donating $$ and he is no longer in town. Why is this election even Important to him?
Great job! I have been waiting to see this. I find the fundraising issue very intriguing. I would not dwell on the union connection for Larry Campbell, nothing of significance in that other than the fact Larry has helped union members in the past. He helped to provide free turkey’s for Goodyear families while on strike a few years ago and they played a role in his first run for council.
What is interesting in the Vogler campaign funding. Where are the contributions from the “downtown” supporters like Susan Stillwell and others? I would have expected contributions of $150 or more from some of those.
Signs are up for both Luther and Shanks. Shanks signs are just now popping up and I saw several on W. Main just this morning.
Putting all of this in prospective, money does not vote, people do. Name recognition-that’s the name of the game. Several people have asked me about this Vogler fellow who is running-meaning they don’t know him (35 and up crowd)-this question from people that vote, at this stage of the game s not good for him.
Sheila,
We received multiple donations of $100+ from downtown supporters, including Susan, in the very first week of our campaign last year. Those figures aren’t included in this most recent report. We raised nearly $2,000 before the start of the new year. That money helped fund our yard signs that are all over the city and the palm cards we have been passing out over the past several months. I am very proud of the support we are receiving that has come from every corner of our city and across the political spectrum.
I’m not sure who you’ve been speaking with, but I’ve been going door to door for the past few months and the majority of people are already familiar with my campaign before I even tell them. The support for our campaign isn’t limited to young people. In fact, they make up just a small portion of it. I would expect the incumbents to have more name recognition. Between the 5 of them, they have spent 42 years on City Council. That’s a long time to build up a base. On the other hand, I’ve had hundreds of people tell me as I’ve gone door to door, that I’m the first candidate they’ve ever had come to their home. They had to ask me who else was running. So there are always two sides to every story.
As I’ve said before, we will continue to work hard in these final 2 weeks and we feel good about our standing in the race at this point. I encourage everyone to remember to vote on May 1.
LV
So, the question is: Just how much money has the Vogler campaign raised-total? Where does it fall in the raising funds category? Just who is raising and spending the most for a “position” that pays little and gets you a lot of nasty phone calls?
For those who are interested, we’ve raised somewhere between $5,500 and $6,500 for the entire campaign through today. That’s a very respectable figure, in my opinion. We’ve had large donors, most of whom donated before the start of this year, but we’ve also had dozens of small donors, which shows strong support from voters.
We’ve been the hardest working campaign in this election hands down. Our volunteers and supporters have been working countless hours going door to door, attending events and I am right there with them.
No one will know anything until every vote is counted on May 1, but I feel we’ve done all we can to come out victorious.
LV
“Name recognition-that’s the name of the game. Several people have asked me about this Vogler fellow who is running-meaning they don’t know him (35 and up crowd)-this question from people that vote, at this stage of the game is not good for him.”
Great call Sheila. He was so “unknown” that he beat every candidate on the ballot outside of the Mayor. I agree with one of the comments above. I’m not sure who you were speaking with. I didn’t speak to a person that week of the Election that wasn’t talking about Vogler. He campaigned his butt off and set the bar, as far as I’m concerned, for how local campaigns will be run from now on.
I did find it a little surprising, though, at just how broad his support was. He performed very well in the traditional “Republican districts” but he also posted strong numbers in the minority prominent districts, as well. Compare his numbers with someone like Fred Shanks. I don’t always have to agree with everything Vogler says but he certainly knows how to connect with voters. No doubt about it. I can’t say that about Shanks and some of the others.
Vogler is a rare breed in politics, especially for our area. So let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride.