Anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars are being spent by local candidates as they try to shore up support ahead of the Nov. 7 municipal election, particularly in Bargersville and Greenwood.
This year, voters in every city and town have candidates on the ballot. Offices in many municipalities are uncontested for the municipal election, including mayors, clerks and clerk-treasurers and some town councils.
On the other hand, some municipalities — Bargersville, Edinburgh, Greenwood, Prince’s Lakes and Whiteland — have contested races for city and town councils.
Campaign finance reports filed earlier this month show political action committees, corporations and individual donors are doling out cash to boost their chosen candidates as they try to win votes. Campaign spending is generally looked at as a measure of the amount of support for a particular candidate.
The Daily Journal looked at campaign finance report filings from April 8 to Oct. 13, the end of the pre-election reporting period. Here’s what the filings for contested races showed.
Bargersville
As four candidates vie for three at-large seats on Bargersville Town Council, they are spending a whole lot of cash.
More than $13,524 has been spent in the race by all four candidates combined — the most in any single municipal race for the reporting period. In terms of contributions, over $14,622 has been raised.
Democrat Blythe Potter has raised the most for a single candidate —almost $6,747. She received over $674 from roughly 36 individual contributors from Franklin, Greenwood, Bargersville and beyond. This includes contributions she gave her campaign herself, according to reports.
She also received $730.20 from Custom Ink of Fairfax, Virginia, and $200 from the Better Indiana Political Action Committee, or PAC, which supports progressive public servants in local communities.
Potter has also spent $5,648.76, primarily on advertising but has also paid operation expenses to the Indiana Democratic Party and ActBlue. She also owes $2,696.71 in debt via loans she gave her campaign, her filing shows.
Republican incumbent James Rummell II comes in behind Potter with a little more than $5,420 in both contributions and expenses. Rummell loaned his campaign most of the funds, and received an estimated $1,568 from fellow Republican incumbents Ruth Ann Moore and Susie Qualls, his filing indicates.
As for expenses, Rummell has spent about $5,086 on services from Spotlight Strategies of Franklin and Harcourt Outlines of Milroy. The rest went to the Johnson County GOP.
Qualls has both raised and spent about $1,309. She gave her campaign the full amount, spending about $807 on services from Spotlight Strategies of Franklin. She also gave Rummell’s campaign $1,309, according to her report.
Moore has raised and spent over $1,146. She gave her campaign the full amount, spending it on advertising and printing services from Spotlight Strategies, Harcourt Outlines and Rick Clark Co. of Greenwood, her filing indicates.
Greenwood Districts 3 and 4
Candidates in Greenwood’s three contested city council races this fall — District 3, District 4 and at-large — are also seeing significant amounts of money spent on the campaign.
Combined, all three contested races have seen nearly $16,092 in expenses — the most for one municipality during the filing period — and more than $10,590 in contributions.
In District 3, Democrat Manjit Nagra has raised $1,100 and spent a little more than $499. He loaned his campaign the full amount, spending the $499 on yard signs from Crystal Graphics of Whiteland, paper printing from FedEx and purchasing a list of voters from the Johnson County Clerk, his filing shows.
Incumbent Michael Williams, Nagra’s Republican opponent, has raised $850 and spent nearly $685 so far. Williams gave his campaign the $850, and spent the $685 on yard signs from Spotlight Strategies and buttons/stickers from Stick Mule of Amsterdam, New York, his filing shows.
For District 4, Republican Teri Manship has raised $4,765 and spent a little more than $3,868. Manship received about $3,915 in contributions from a Greenwood attorney, with $915 being an in-kind contribution for victory signs. She gave her campaign $600 of her own money, and received $250 in individual contributions from two others, filings show.
As for expenses, Manship has spent nearly $2,000 for services from Cardinal Contact, an Indianapolis political consulting firm, and a little over $915 for services from Victory Enterprises, an Iowa political consulting firm. The rest of the expenses were for the county GOP and paying herself back for the money she gave her campaign and expenses she incurred. She was left with $896.94 in the bank as of Oct. 13, according to filings.
Democrat Nathan Cardenas, Manship’s opponent, has raised and spent $25, his filing shows.
Greenwood at-large
The bulk of the expenses and contributions for Greenwood candidates comes from the at-large race, in which six candidates are seeking three seats. About $14,697 in expenses, and about $8,497 in contributions have been reported.
Republican incumbent Mike Campbell is the biggest spender, recording about $7,681 in expenses. He has spent about $7,479 on advertising services from Cardinal Contact, with the rest of the expenses going toward shirts and the county GOP, according to the reports.
Campbell raised $550 during the same period. He gave $300 to his campaign and received a $250 individual contribution from a resident.
He ended the period with negative $78 in the bank and more than $19,462 in debt. The debt is the result of loans he’s given his campaign in 2002, 2011 and 2023, filings show.
Democrat Charrie Stambaugh is the biggest fundraiser so far. Filings show Staumbaugh raised over $4,275 and spent more than $4,024.
Stambaugh has received over $3,453 from 35 individual contributions, including not only an in-kind contribution from Staumbaugh herself but contributions from Bargersville candidate Potter and former Greenwood Mayor Margaret McGovern. She also received $250 from the Better Indiana PAC and $250 from the Indiana Stonewall Democrats PAC, which pushes for civil equality for the LGBTQ+ community.
Expenses from Stambaugh range from a $1,900 donation to the Indiana Democratic Party to a combined $1,758 for advertising, yard signs, video and print materials, reports show.
Republican Steve Moan has spent about $1,554 and raised $1,500 during the reporting period. He’s spent about $858 in advertising expenses from three firms, over $303 in operations and gave $125 to the county GOP. He also loaned his campaign a $1,000 in April, filings show.
Moan received $600 via two individual contributions from Greenwood and Bargersville residents. He also received $750 from two political action committees — Freedom Tax and Accounting and Midwest Presort, both of Indianapolis, according to his filing.
Incumbent Erin Betron, a Republican, has spent over $837 from April 8 to Oct. 13. Expenses include hats, shirts, signs and items for parades, according to filings.
Betron also raised $1,000 during the same period, giving her campaign $900 and receiving a $100 contribution from Dale Marmaduke, a former Greenwood mayoral and city council candidate. She ended the period with $310 of cash on hand, reports show.
Libertarian James Sceniak has spent about $345 and raised $500. He received $300 from the Libertarian Party of Johnson County and the Libby 4 Liberty PACs, spending $327 on a fundraiser at Smocktown Brewery, his filing shows.
Democrat Rachel Matthews has spent $252 and raised more than $671. For expenses, she reported a $240 expense for advertising material from Mini Billboards and $12 in bank fees.
Matthews gave her campaign nearly $204 and received three other individual contributions. She also received $50 from the Better Indiana PAC, her filing shows.
Edinburgh
For Edinburgh’s town council at-large race, about $3,280 has been spent. Four candidates are running for three seats in this race: Independent Michael Bryant, and Republicans Miriam Rooks, Jeff Simpson and Sherri Sweet.
Bryant has both raised and spent nearly $1,909. He gave his campaign the funds, using them at Vista Print for advertising, his report shows.
Sweet has spent over $1,095 for her campaign and raised $0. Over $667 was spent at Spotlight Strategies for signs with the rest being spent at DMB Embroidery for shirts, reports show.
Rooks, an incumbent, has raised and spent a little over $167. The $167 was spent on candy from Sam’s Club, her filing shows.
Simpson, an incumbent, has spent $276 and raised $0. At DMB Embroidery of Edinburgh, $202 was spent, and $74 was spent on an ad published in a Daily Journal publication, his filing shows.
Whiteland
Two of Whiteland’s three at-large candidates have spent $651.11 in the race to snag the two seats.
Republican incumbent Richard Hill has both spent and raised a little over $624. Hill loaned his campaign the full amount, spending it at Crystal Graphics of Whiteland.
Joe Sayler, another Republican incumbent, has spent $27 on his campaign. He has raised $0, and reported $250 in debt from funds he gave his campaign, reports show.
Democrat Jacquelyn “Jaylen” Marie Withem has not raised or spent funds during the reporting period, filings indicate.
Prince’s Lakes
Of the six candidates seeking five at-large seats on the Prince’s Lakes town council, only two did not file exemptions to submitting campaign finance reports.
Republican Lindsey Kelly reported more than $114 in expenses and $20 in contributions. The $20 Kelly loaned her campaign, and the expenses came from the purchase of magnets for advertising from Pop Print of Nineveh, according to her report.
Republican incumbent Bryan Tearman reported no expenses and no contributions. Republicans Charlie Bourne, Kevin Harrison and Greg Nelson filed exemptions, as did Independent Catherine Gleason.
BY THE NUMBERS
Here is a look at how much was raised and spent in some of the contested races from mid-April through mid-October, based on October campaign finance reports:
Bargersville Town Council At-Large
- Ruth Ann Moore (R): Raised $1,146.54; spent $1,146.54
- Blythe Potter (D): Raised $6,746.98; spent $5,648.76
- Susie Qualls (R): Raised $1,309.05; spent $1,309.05
- James Rummell II (R): Raised $5,420.21; spent $5,420.21
Edinburgh Town Council At-Large
- Michael Bryant (I): Raised $1,908.99; spent $1,908.99
- Miriam Rooks (R): Raised $167.31; spent $167.31
- Jeff Simpson (R): Raised $0; spent $276
- Sherri Sweet (R): Raised $0; spent $1,095.68
Greenwood City Council District 3
- Manjit Nagra (D): Raised $1,100; spent $499.27
- Michael Williams (R): Raised $850; spent $684.80
Greenwood City Council District 4
- Nathan Cardenas (D): Raised $25; spent $25
- Teri Manship (R): Raised $4,765; spent $3868.06.
Greenwood City Council At-Large
- Erin Betron (R): Raised $1,000; spent $837.41
- Mike Campbell (R): Raised $550; spent $7,681.21
- Rachel Matthews (D): Raised $671.67; spent $252
- Steve Moan (R): Raised $1,500; spent $1,554.11
- James Sceniak (L): Raised $500; spent $345.40
- Charrie Stambaugh (D): Raised $4,275.57; spent $4,024.51
Prince’s Lakes Town Council At-Large
- Charlie Bourne (R): Filed exemption
- Catherine Gleason (I): Filed exemption
- Kevin Harrison (R): Filed exemption
- Lindsey Kelly (R): Raised $20; spent $114.49
- Greg Nelson (R): Filed exemption
- Bryan Tearman (R): Raised $0; spent $0
Whiteland Town Council At-Large
- Richard Hill (R): Raised $624.10; spent $624.10
- Joe Sayler (R): Raised $0; spent $27
- Jacquelyn “Jaylen” Marie Withem (D): Raised $0; spent $0
