Cara Fitzpatrick
With four days left until Tuesday’s election, political newcomer Jennifer Prior Brown has raked in about $70,000 in campaign contributions, more than any of the other 17 candidates running for five seats on the Palm Beach County School Board.
She has spent about $54,000, according to her latest campaign reports.
“I think the money is an important piece, but by no means is it the only piece,” said Brown, one of five candidates seeking Carrie Hill’s District 4 seat. Hill isn’t seeking reelection.
School board races, which are nonpartisan, will be decided Tuesday . If no one wins a majority for a particular seat, the top two vote-getters go to a run-off Nov. 2.
Money, while not the only factor at play in the election, at least has been evident in almost every race. More than $350,000 had poured into all five races total as of today, paying for campaign signs, fliers, glossy mailers, websites and staff time.
Brown’s nearest opponent in her race in terms of fund-raising was Anne Kanjian. A real estate agent, Kanjian pulled in about $19,000 as of Aug. 4, her most recent finance report.
Campaign finance reports, which were due today, weren’t immediately available from the county elections office for every candidate.
Long-time board member Bill Graham, who faces four opponents in District 3, was a close second behind Brown in fund-raising, bringing in about $48,000 by today . He had spent about $41,000.
Graham, who threw in $5,000 of his own money, said money could be vital for candidates to get their message out.
“Really, politics is marketing in that sense,” he said.
Tom Whatley, a close second in the District 3 race for fund-raising, had about $41,000 total as of Thursday, but threw in about $35,000 of his own money. He had spent about $32,000.
Marcia Andrews, who’s been campaigning for the District 6 seat since last year, had the third-highest fund-raising total of all the races. As of today, she had raised about $44,000, spending about $34,000. Andrews poured about $23,000 of her own money into the race.
Dean Grossman, who started his campaign less than two months ago, also has been a fund-raising force in District 6. He had raised about $29,000 as of today and had spent $27,918. Ron Young, a barber, had about $4,000 as of this week.
Veteran Board member Sandra Richmond decided not to run for reelection in District 6.
Andrews and Grossman, perhaps more than any other candidates, have clear divisions in their financial backing. Andrews, a former principal and district administrator, had myriad contributions from people who said they worked in education as well as the backing of the teachers’ union.
Grossman, a radio sales executive, had the financial backing of such businesses as sugar grower Florida Crystals Corp. of West Palm Beach, Lake Park-based Maschmeyer Concrete Co. of Florida, and the Palm Beach Kennel Club.
In District 2, Jean Dowling and Chuck Shaw are vying for the remainder of Paulette Burdick’s term. Shaw, a charter school principal, has far outpaced Dowling in terms of financial support. As of today, Shaw had raised about $35,000 and spent about $27,000. Shaw dumped about $17,500 of his own money into his campaign.
In comparison, Dowling had raised about $8,200, spending most of it.
Burdick resigned to seek a county commission seat.
In District 7, board member Debra Robinson has outpaced both of her opponents, bringing in about $18,000, compared with Thomas Hawkins’ $4,400 and William Abrams’ $3,500, as of this week.
Shaw, despite his strong financial support, downplayed the importance of money in the election.
“The real key is not how much money you have, but what kind of connections you make out in the community,” he said.
Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story.
Similar Posts:
- Two challenge incumbent Robinson in Palm Beach County School Board’s District 7
- Suncoast High band incident to bring more financial training for principals
- Second Portland school board member opts to step down when term ends
- School District to meet mandated class-size reductions by hiring teachers
- Tuesday session looks to help solve high suspension, dropout rates for PBC black students
Post Comment