by Mike Sever
Record-Courier Reporter
Campaign spending in two contested Democratic primaries in Portage County has topped $28,000 among four candidates, not much by national standards but a sign of intense campaigns locally.
Feb. 21 was the deadline to file pre-primary campaign expense reports with the Portage County Board of Elections. The report period is from Jan. 31 to Feb. 13.
Much of the spending is for signs, mailings and other ways of getting candidates' names in front of voters.
The two candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for county commissioner are five-term incumbent Chris Smeiles and Streetsboro resident Brett McClafferty.
The latter ran for mayor of Streetsboro last year, coming in third in a crowded primary race and missing the ballot by just one vote.
Smeiles came into the report period with $16,534 on hand after spending $4,997 in the opening stages.
In the latest report, Smeiles said he added $975 in contributions while spending $5,190 on campaign expenses. That leaves him with $12,319 on hand.
McClafferty spent no money in the report period. He spent nearly $6,300 in the opening stage of the campaign, and added $680 to the $200 he brought forward from his first report.
McCLAFFERTY said he is relying on a door-to-door campaign and phone banks to boost his campaign.
Of the two men vying for the sheriff's nomination in the county, Jeff Buck had spent the most by the deadline. But David Doak has a larger war chest going into the final days.
Buck, the chief of police in Reminderville and a Suffield resident, is running his campaign on $6,600 in personal loans. He raised $250 in donations and $350 worth of in-kind contributions for sign and mailing supplies.
Of the total $6,850 he had on hand, Buck spent $6,395 leaving him with just $455.
Doak was chief deputy for Sheriff Duane Kaley for more than a dozen years before deciding to run for the top job himself.
Doak had spent $1,973 in the opening period of the campaign. In the latest report, his committee brought forward $5,637 from that first report and added another $4,460 in contributions and $300 in other income.
Doak also received $2,446 worth of in-kind contributions such as paint and other supplies for signs and postage and envelopes for campaign mailings.
Doak spent $3,470 by the report deadline, leaving him with $6,927 on hand.
The final financial reports for the primary will be the post-primary reports due April 11, covering the period from Feb. 14 to April 4.
E-mail: msever@recordpub.com
Telephone: 330-296-9657