While candidates speak about cutting the deficit once elected, campaign spending has skyrocketed during the race to Election Day.
From billions of dollars in the presidential race to millions on federal and state elections to mere thousands on local elections, candidates are relying on campaign funding to give them an edge over their opponents.
The race for the seat of Ohio’s 15th congressional district features one of the largest disparities between funds raised and spent by the opposing candidates — Republican incumbent Steve Stivers and Democratic challenger Pat Lang.
Brian Peters, Lang’s campaign manager, said he believes the incumbent has an advantage in raising funds. Stivers has raised $2,479,035 in funds, almost 26 times more than Lang.
“It’s easy to raise money once you’re already in the Washington system,” Peters said. “The rest of the party raises for you; it’s a distinct advantage.”
The Stivers campaign has enjoyed support from a wide variety of people, including senior citizens and those in the military, campaign manager Grant Shaffer said.
“Obviously, campaigns are nothing without money,” Peters said. “I mean, we can’t even keep the lights on if we don’t have any money. It’s a shame it’s gotten so ridiculous in terms of the amount spent.”
Fred Cady, an Ohio University visiting assistant professor of political science, said he sees both sides of the issue of how much candidates are able to raise and spend on campaigns.
“You can look at it in the way that some voices aren’t as equal as others,” Cady said. “Yet, many believe (donating to campaigns) is a part of free speech and isn’t a problem.”
Although Lang’s campaign is far behind in terms of contributions, Peters said he doesn’t believe this will hurt the campaign, because the massive amounts of money Stivers receives from large corporations illustrates his problems as a candidate.
“It’s really all about getting your message to the people,” Peters said. “We’re just trying to keep spreading our message, and people will realize that (Stivers) is a creature of Washington.”
In the race for Athens County Sheriff, incumbent Pat Kelly leads Republican Steve Kane and all other Athens candidates in monetary contributions with $11,916 raised as of Tuesday.
“(Kelly’s) got a lot of large supporters giving money, while I have more individuals giving small amounts of money,” Kane said. “I think my campaign has been successful so far; I invested in my campaign signs early so people can see me and know that I’m running again.”
Each candidate’s campaign-finance report details how much money he or she has received and spent.
In terms of monetary contributions, Republican Randy Mace is leading the race for Athens County Commissioner with $9,921 raised, compared to opponent Democrat Chris Chmiel’s $3,892 in funds, according to the finance reports from the Athens County Board of Elections.
“I have ads running on the radio, in the local newspapers, and we’ve used the money for coat hangers and yard signs too,” Mace said. “I can tell you about a third of my money comes from the party, a third comes from my contributors and a third comes from my pocket.”
Cady said Ohio’s importance as a state drives up the cost of campaigns statewide.
“Without money, you can’t run campaign commercials or anything,” Cady said. “You can’t do much without money.”
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