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Modern campaigns demand lots of
cash Sunday, November 3, 2002
By A.J. RENNER Repository staff writer
When John Hagan ran against Johnnie Maier in 1998, he
spent around $20,000.
In 2000, when Hagan ran for the same 56th District Ohio House
seat in 2000, he spent about $31,000. But the Ohio Republican
campaign committee spent nearly $125,000 on his campaign on in-kind
donations. (That year, Hagan donated $12,900 to the committee.)
In 1998, Hagan raised all his money locally, he said.
In 2000, more than a third of the $31,220 he raised came from
outside Stark County.
What changed? His opponent.
Maier’s appointed replacement, Mike Stevens, had only a few
months’ incumbency before the race began.
“It was a winnable race,” said Hagan.
The money stream
There’s no way around it: Modern campaigns demand money, and a
lot of it.
“There’s just so many contacts that one human being can make,”
said Martin Olson, Hagan’s opponent this year.
In 2002, Hagan has raised more than $45,000. Olson has raised a
little more than $14,000.
The money gets a lot easier to raise if the race is considered
“winnable.”
John Boccieri raised $20,000 from personal contributions to win
the 2000 primary. After that, the money rolled in: In all, Boccieri
spent about $268,000 of cash and in-kind contributions to unseat
incumbent Republican Ron Hood in the 57th Ohio House District.
This year, Boccieri has raised more than $100,000. His opponent,
Randy Pope, had raised $10,685.
More than 80 percent of Boccieri’s contributions — and about a
third of Pope’s — come from Political Action Committees, labor
unions, campaigns of other candidates, or other “non-individual”
sources.
“It’s hard raising money from a constituency that I represent; we
have a lot of displaced workers, a lot of unemployed,” Boccieri
said. “I have a lot of blue-collar workers in my district, in
Mahoning and Stark County ... they have a wish and a desire that
their labor contributions be sent to me for their efforts.”
A certain stream of money seems to flow to incumbency itself,
regardless of the party. Every penny of the $2,500 Democratic Ohio
Rep. Mary Cirelli listed on her last report came from either
Columbus or Dublin: a collection of donations from interests ranging
from real estate to osteopathy, education, accounting, insurance and
agriculture.
Cirelli said that most of the money was unsolicited. Although her
independent opponent, David Kidd, has raised more than $14,000, —
roughly twice the contributions Cirelli has received — Cirelli said
she isn’t worried.
“I’ve always been outspent,” said Cirelli.
In 2000, Republican candidate Mary Cain raised more than $80,000,
including in-kind contributions from the Ohio House Republican
Campaign Committee. Cirelli spent less than half that, and won by 7
percent of the vote.
Open seats
This year, Scott Warner, Cirelli’s Republican opponent isn’t
getting the support Cain received from the Republican party.
That’s probably because in 2000, the 54th Ohio House seat was
“open:” The incumbent, William Healy was leaving the seat.
Open seats encourage spending. This year, Republican Ohio Rep.
Kirk Schuring and Democrat Jan Schwartz are battling for the 29th
District Senate seat that Republican Scott Oelslager is vacating.
Schuring has gathered nearly $200,000 so far; Schwartz has a
little more than $100,000.
“We always knew that we would not be able to raise the funds to
match his,” said Schwartz. “I’m not a person that is centered on
money being the most powerful tool in reaching the citizens.”
Schuring’s fund-raising pattern bucks a trend: Although he is an
eight-year incumbent of his current 55th District House seat, he
still raises more money inside the county than outside — $125,200 to
$73,228.
About 44 percent of Schuring’s money, and 63 percent of
Schwartz’s came from donations of $2,000 or more.
Schwartz has raised about $40,000 in county, and $63,000 out of
county.
Open seats don’t always lead to campaign riches. Republican Scott
Oelslager and Democrat Marylyn Scott are competing for the seat that
will be left empty by Kirk Schuring.
Oelslager, a state senator, has listed $52,424 on his campaign
finance forms this year. Scott, a former Lake Local Board of
Education member, has listed less than a tenth of that.
What’s the payoff?
What do contributors get for the money?
Most candidates said that they, personally, are not beholden to
special interests.
“I think that if we could put all cynicism aside, people a lot of
times contribute to people who have like minds and like ideas,” said
Hagan.
He added that the image of lobbyists and Political Action
Committees squeezing out individual voices is wrong. “Most people in
the public, whether they recognize it or not, they’re represented by
lobbyists and PACs.”
The Realtors PAC, the political branch of the Ohio Realtors
Association, disburses money according to the directions of local
real estate organizations, said Karl Horst, spokesman for the
organization.
“The primary focus of the Realtors PAC is to support candidates
who support private property rights and the free enterprise system,”
said Horst.
Still, some candidates argue that there is room for improvement.
Boccieri approves of spending limits for candidates based on what
the media market in their district is.
Olson lauds the tax credit individual contributors can get for
donating up to $50 to a candidate.
“Every candidate has to take money from the lobbyists, and I
don’t think that’s good for the people of Ohio, or the 50th
District, or any district,” said Olson. He’d like to limit his
contributions to individuals, but with a $30,000-plus deficit
between him and his opponent, “it’s not possible right now.”
You can reach Repository writer A.J. Renner at (330) 580-8312 or
e-mail:
aj.renner@cantonrep.com
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