Primaries are just around the corner, and candidates have been spending big and fundraising even bigger, according to reports recently filed with the county.
Candidates running for city offices in Indiana had until April 22 to file campaign finance reports, or possibly face a fine.
The pre-primary campaign finance reports track contributions and expenditures, generally from the first of the year through April 12.
In Evansville’s mayoral race, Republican incumbent Lloyd Winnecke raised almost $200,000 during that time. His campaign already had more than $600,000 in cash at the start of the year, and he's spent more than $142,000.
Winnecke’s primary challenger, Connie Whitman, reported no outside contributions. Libertarian candidate Bart Gadau received no contributions at all, according to his campaign finance report.
In the Democratic primary for the second ward seat on Evansville's city council, incumbent Missy Mosby has raised about twice as much as her opponent, D’Angelo Taylor. Mosby’s campaign reported $7,125 in contributions. That’s in addition to the more than $5,000 she had at the beginning of the year. Taylor reports raising $3,500.
The winner of that race will run against Republican Natalie Rascher in the fall. Her campaign has raised just north of $2,000.
Political newcomer Kaitlin Moore Morley leads the field, in terms of campaign donations, of the five Democrats vying for three at-large city council spots on the November ballot.
Her campaign has raised $19,785.64. Trailing a bit behind her is the only incumbent in the race, Jonathan Weaver, whose campaign reports almost $10,000 in contributions plus the nearly $2,000 it held at the start of the year.
Rounding out the field of Democratic at-large candidates, Gina Robinson Ungar reported contributions a couple hundred dollars shy of $4,000. Ed Bassemier raised slightly over $3,000.
On Friday, the Vanderburgh County Clerk’s Office didn’t have campaign finance records from Mike Talarzyk’s campaign.
"I didn’t even know I was passed the deadline," says Talarzyk, who also says his campaign didn’t raise or spend anything.
"Kinda new at this campaigning thing here," he adds. "They don’t give you a handbook when you run for office."
Talarzyk submitted his campaign finance report Monday.
Per state statute, the county election board can levy a daily fee of $50 each day the report is late, with a cap at $1,000.
The Vanderburgh County Election Board typically chooses not to impose the penalty. The board will discuss what to do with late reports after the primaries at its May meeting.
In total, the clerk’s office didn’t have reports on file from four campaigns on Friday, including Talarzyk’s.
Republican city council at-large primary candidate Zane Clodfelter’s report was also missing at that time.
"I’m not sure why that is the case but I’ll look into it early this week and will pass along any information," Clodfelter wrote Sunday in an email to WNIN.
Clodfelter filed his paperwork the following day, according to the clerk's office.
Out of the three Republican at-large primary candidates who did have finance reports on file, Alex Schmitt raised the most by far. Schmitt’s campaign reported more than $22,000 in contributions, the largest sum among city council candidates by a few hundred dollars. Schmitt has recieved donations from several prominent area Republicans.
Two members of the local GOP top brass, however, threw their money behind other candidates in the race. Winnecke’s campaign gave $500 to David Christmas. Vanderburgh County GOP Chair Wayne Parke gave the same amount to Ron Beane, whose campaign has received more than $11,000. Christmas has raised just $2,406.
There are no primary races in the other offices up for election this fall, but candidates in those races still had to file campaign finance reports by the April 22 deadline.
Democrats have outraised Republicans in most of those races. There’s no campaign finance data available, however, for candidates running in the fourth ward. The clerk’s office didn’t have reports on file for Democrat Alex Burton or Republican Archie Carter, who didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Other campaigns reported the following contributions:
Ward 1
- Tim O’Brien (R)—$13,024.75
- Ben Trockman (D)—$21,419.03
Ward 3
- Steve Melcher (R)—$1,750
- Zachary Heronemus (D)—$8,272.50
Ward 5
- Justin Elpers (R)—$730
- Jennifer Yaser (D)—$2,799.09 (Full disclosure: Yaser is a former WNIN employee.)
Ward 6
- Paul Abramson (R) —$1,442
- Jim Brinkmeyer (D)—$0
Indiana primaries take place May 7. The next campaign finance report filing deadline is Oct. 18, a couple weeks ahead of Election Day.
Reporter's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the clerk's office received pre-primary campaign finance reports from the campaigns of Talarzyk and Clodfelter Monday, April 29.