Local campaigns raise thousands in final months of election
Campaigns across the country have spent billions in this year's election. Candidates running in local races have recorded nearly $500,000 in contributions in the past six months.
Today, voters across the country will cast their ballots for races from county offices to the presidency. Some, though, have been throwing a different type of support behind candidates for the past year: donations.
While the U.S. Senate race in Ohio between Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Bernie Moreno has cost more than $400 million according to reporting by WCPO, voters back local candidates financially, too. Ohio campaigns are required to file pre-general election campaign finance reports which track contributions made between April 20 through Oct. 16. In the four local races Oxford voters will weigh in on — two county commissioner seats, a state senate race and a state house race — those contributions added up to nearly half a million dollars between the eight candidates running.
Here’s how those donations break down:
4th State Senate District: Cooke v. Lang
Democrat and Oxford resident Tom Cooke is running to unseat incumbent Republican George Lang in Ohio’s 4th State Senate District. Lang won the district handily in 2020 under a slightly different map, winning 60.5% of the vote.
Lang maintained a significant fundraising advantage over his opponent throughout the race, taking in more than $327,000 from 180 donations in the last reporting period. The Academy of Senior Health Sciences, an organization focused on “public education and awareness initiatives to the long-term care community in Ohio,” gave $15,499 to Lang’s campaign, the largest single donation, while Brian and Gretchen Colleran, a couple from Cleveland, each donated $15,000.
The Collerans founded the Brian & Gretchen Colleran Foundation in 2009 to support organizations focused on senior health, children’s education, wildlife, and seniors and individuals with developmental disabilities, according to the foundation’s website. According to the website, Brian Colleran previously started a long-term care business in 2000.
Lang’s campaign received three out-of-state donations of $10,000 or more, and nearly a fifth of his total amount raised since April 20 came from outside of Ohio.
Roughly 73% of the money Lang raised came from individual donors, while the remainder came from PACS and other organizations — 76 in all.
Despite bringing in significantly less money than Lang — less than $26,000 — Cooke recorded significantly more individual donations. More than half of the 263 donations Cooke received in the same time period were for $25 or less, though some came from repeat donors.
Seven PACs and other organizations backed Cooke’s campaign financially, including the Butler County Progressive PAC for $2,250.
More than a third of the total amount donated to Cooke came from outside Ohio, including more than $3,000 each from Washington D.C. and from Virginia, where Cooke used to live. The funding from D.C. came almost entirely from a single donation from the Every State Blue — Blue Ohio PAC, an organization which uses monthly donations to fund local races across multiple states. The Virginia total includes $3,000 from Katy McCusty, Cooke’s largest individual donor.
47th State House District: Cummings v. Mullins
Republican Diane Mullins, a Hamilton resident and co-pastor at Calvary Church, successfully primaried current State Representative Sara Carruthers earlier this year. Now, Mullins is facing Oxford pastor Vanessa Cummings in the general election to represent the 47th House District, which covers Oxford and Hamilton.
Cummings' campaign recorded a fundraising advantage over Mullins in the most recent reporting period. In 2022, nearly 65% of voters backed Carruthers, a Republican, over Democratic challenger Sam Lawrence, a Miami University student.
During the reporting period, Cummings' campaign took in nearly $24,000. Those contributions included more than $8,000 from three political groups: the Butler County Progressive PAC, The Matriots and Every State Blue — Blue Ohio PAC. In total, just more than a third of the amount contributed to Cummings' campaign came from entities rather than individuals.
Roughly a quarter of the amount donated to Cummings’ campaign came from out of state, including nearly $3,000 from the Blue Ohio PAC which is based in Washington D.C. No individuals donated more than $500 to Cummings’ campaign.
Oxford residents donated just more than $3,400 to support Cummings, while Hamilton residents donated just more than $1,900. Individual Cincinnatians donated almost $1,900 to Cummings’ campaign, as well.
Mullins trailed Cummings in fundraising, both in terms of amount raised and in individual donations. The Mullins campaign logged $17,010 in donations from more than 50 individual donors and nine entities including PACs and other campaigns.
More than half of Mullins’ funds came from PACs, other campaigns and businesses, including $6,000 from Republican State Senator Matt Huffman’s campaign.
During the six month reporting period, Mullins received just $100 from out-of-state donors according to campaign finance records: $50 from Indiana and $50 from Florida. The largest share of donations came from Columbus with $6,300, followed by Hamilton at $5,970 and West Chester at $1,600. Oxford residents donated almost $600 to Mullins' campaign.
County Commissioner: Dixon v. Raghu
Raghu’s campaign raised $50,843 from more than 350 individual donations between April 20 and Oct. 16, the most reported by any local Democratic candidate appearing on Oxford ballots. Her opponent Donald Dixon’s campaign has not listed any donations this election cycle. Instead, his campaign has been financed by a $100,000 loan from Dixon himself, made last September.
Just more than 78% of the total amount donated to Raghu’s campaign in the pre-general election reporting period has come from in-state donors. The out-of-state donations span 26 states and territories, led by $1,500 from Washington, D.C., $1,475 from California and $1,250 from Florida.
Five PACS and other entities donated nearly $6,000 to Raghu’s campaign in the reporting period. The top donor was Butler County Progressive PAC with $2,750, while The Matriots contributed $1,500. Raghu also received union support, with a $500 donation from the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
More than 280 individuals donated to Raghu’s campaign, two thirds of whom were from Oxford. Raghu was elected to Oxford City Council in 2017 and is currently the vice-mayor. Across Butler County, Raghu received contributions from 33 Hamilton residents, 10 West Chester residents, seven Liberty Township residents, and six residents each from Fairfield and Middletown.
County Commissioner: Rogers v. Small
Donors have put significantly less money into the commissioner race between health worker Tamara Small, a Democrat who is challenging Republican incumbent T.C. Rogers for his seat.
The campaign for Rogers, a businessman with a background in real estate, logged one donation in the reporting period, a $5,000 contribution from the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors PAC.
Small's campaign, meanwhile, received $1,500 from The Matriots, an organization based in Columbus, and $200 from the Democratic Womens Club, based in West Chester. Individual donors also contributed $170 to Small's campaign. No donations for either candidate came from out of state.
Rogers' campaign did record a significant advantage over Small in terms of cash on hand, bringing forward more than $50,000 from the previous reporting period compared to just more than $2,300 for Small's campaign. Rogers reported nearly $50,000 in campaign contributions from almost 80 unique donations on his 2023 annual form. That total included $10,000 from Artisan Estate Homes LLC.
