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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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Do you think there should be truth in campaign financing, i.e., should Democratic party be required by law to file a report showing their campaign expenses for Walling as an Addendum to his report? -- 00SL2
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Williamson sets Flint campaign spending record
Posted by Marjory Raymer | The Flint Journal December 06, 2007 18:25PM
Categories: Flint
FLINT -- Mayor Don Williamson pumped a record-setting $460,000 of his own money into his successful re-election campaign, including $250,000 in the final days of the race.
"We ran our campaign to win our election," Williamson said.
Williamson far outpaced challenger Dayne Walling, who spent $280,000 -- including a $10,000 debt -- with the help of more than 1,000 people who contributed to his campaign.
Combined, the two dumped nearly three-quarters of a million dollars into the super tight race -- falling just short of the city's most expensive race ever. Williamson did set a record for the most spent by a single candidate.
"Competitive races tend to generate a lot of revenue," said Paul Rozycki, political science professor at Mott Community College.
Williamson won by less than 2 percent of the vote, the closest margin in a Flint mayoral election in more than 30 years.
The big bucks fueling Williamson and Walling's efforts were clearly visible to voters who were bombarded with advertisements with candidates boosting their achievements and slinging mud at the other.
"He spent twice as much money and only won by 581 votes," Walling said after turning in his 153-page campaign finance report just minutes before the 4 p.m. deadline Thursday.
Williamson said he believes Walling's campaign -- with help from the state Democratic Party, which aired anti-Williamson spots on radio and television -- spent twice as much as him.
The Democratic Party expenditures are third-party ads and not included in Walling's report. Party officials have declined to reveal how much they spent.
Williamson wrote three checks to his campaign in the final two weeks of the race: $100,000 on Oct. 23, $100,000 on Oct. 29 and $50,000 on Nov. 1.
Williamson is a multi-millionaire and his wife owns Patsy Lou Buick GMC dealership in Flint Township.
"I think Walling was trying to keep up with Williamson. He's a hard guy to keep up," Rozycki said.
In Burton, the campaigns did not spend much money. Mayor Charles Smiley, who won re-election against longtime critic Councilwoman Laurie Tinnin, spent about $7,500 during the general election period. Tinnin spent about $9,000 trying to unseat the four-term incumbent.
Last time around in Flint, Williamson spent about $350,000 compared to about $90,000 spent by his opponent Floyd Clack to become mayor in 2003.
In the fiercely fought battle in 1999 between former Mayor Woodrow Stanley and City Councilman Scott Kincaid, the two combined for just over $500,000.
The title for most expensive mayoral race stays with 1995, when Williamson challenged first-term incumbent Stanley. Combined they spent $800,000.
Until this year, that race also held the record for the most spent by a candidate: $450,000 by Stanley.
Source: http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/2007/12/williamson_sets_flint_campaign.html
Accessed: December 6, 2007 |
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:29 am |
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last time here
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this election really opened my eyes. never in all my years have i seen
a party attack a nonpartisan election so fiercly. kinda turned me off.  |
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:09 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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Michigan Campaign Finance Act, Act 388 of 1976 (Excerpt)
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-169-229
169.229 Campaign statement filed by political party committee; contents; identification of expenditure; designation of contribution to candidate committee . . .; designation of independent expenditure; . . .; list of expenditures.
Sec. 29.
(1)
A campaign statement filed by a political party committee shall contain all of the following information:
* * *
(c)
An itemized list of all expenditures, including in-kind contributions and expenditures and loans,
made during the period covered by the campaign statement that were contributions to a candidate committee of a candidate for elective office . . .; or . . .
in support of the nomination or election of a candidate for elective office or the defeat of any of the candidate's opponents.
(d) The total expenditure by the committee for each candidate for elective office . . . in whose behalf an independent expenditure was made or a contribution was given for the election cycle.
(e) The filer's name, address, and telephone number, if available, if any, and the full name, address, and telephone number, if available, of the committee treasurer.
(2) The committee shall identify an expenditure listed under subsection (1)(c) as an independent expenditure or as a contribution to a candidate committee . . . .
(3) The committee shall designate for a contribution to or on behalf of a candidate committee . . . listed under subsection (1)(c) the name and address of the committee, the name of the candidate and the office sought, if any, the amount contributed, and the date of contribution.
(4) The committee shall designate for an independent expenditure listed under subsection (1)(c) either the name of the candidate for whose benefit the expenditure was made and the office sought by the candidate . . .; the amount, date, and purpose of the expenditure; and the full name and address of the person to whom the expenditure was made.
* * *
(6) A campaign statement of a committee, in addition to the other information required by this section, shall include an itemized list of all expenditures during the reporting period for election day busing of electors to the polls, get-out-the-vote activities, slate cards, challengers, poll watchers, and poll workers. |
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:54 pm |
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last time here
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hmmmmm. sounds like mr.wallings may be a bit short of info???  |
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:12 pm |
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Josh Freeman
F L I N T O I D
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| Campaign finance laws in Michigan mean nothing. They are feel good legislation. Until there are teeth in the law we should just repeal them all. The Secretary of State, the agency that is supposed to investigate these statements, doesn't even have the ability to subpoena information. As we have seen here locally in the past, flagrant violations of campaign finance laws go unchecked. |
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Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:20 am |
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