So, how did all those Libertarians do in campaign finance?
With end of year campaign finance reports due, I thought it would be interesting to look back and see how those plucky upstarts over at the Libertarian Party did in raising money to run for office, since they fielded more Candidates than the state Democrat Party did.
Did I say plucky? I think I might have meant yucky. An examination of the reports shows that there literally was no money raised or spent universally across all of their candidates. The one who raised the most, John English, who ran for office of School and Lands Commissioner, was said to have dropped out before election day.
Having filed his termination report in October might also be an indicator.
Here’s what I found among the candidates. There is still a possibility that a report may yet come in, especially from Chad Haber, who has never filed a report of expenditures. But I think you get the hint of how they all did if you review the reports. Links are to the reports I reviewed:
- Emmett Reistroffer, Secretary of State. Raised $240. Spent $240.
- Chad Haber, Attorney General. Except for claiming he has no income over $2000 except for what his wife brings in, Haber has never filed a campaign finance statement.
- Kurt Evans, State Auditor. Reported that he raised nothing & spent nothing, in either his pre-general report or his EOY Report. He’s going to have to do better than that in 2016 if he intends to play spoiler again.
- Ken Santema, State Treasurer. No EOY Report yet. But raised nothing/spent nothing in his pre-general report.
- John English, School & Lands. Put $405.87 into campaign from self and donation, and spent that much, despite dropping out of the race.
- Ryan Gaddy, Public Utilities Commission. No record of any campaign finance documents due to being quickly disqualified for ballot.
What do you think? All show, and no go, or was that the start of a grand experiment for the Libertarians?