Following the Money, Part Two

Earlier this week, Tim introduced us to the MEC's incredible tutorial, Follow the Money, explaining how to keep tabs on who's spending what money where. Tim took a look at the donations of a large corporation to show how you can see which candidates they support.

Tonight I'm taking a look at the other side of the coin - how candidates spend the donations made to their campaign. I talked a little last week about my own experience with this in anecdotal format, so this week I'm applying my newly acquired sleuthing skills to Adair County's Republican candidate for Sheriff, Robert Hardwick. 

Following along with the MEC tutorial, I found Hardwick's "8 days prior to election" financial statement. 

The first thing I noticed was the sheer amount of money Hardwick has spent on this election. He's brought in more than$60,000 and has spent more than $50,000. 

Curious about where all this money has come from, I checked out the donor list. It looks like Hardwick is financing the majority of his campaign himself. On the "30 days after primary" report, he listed himself three times on the donation list. His wife was listed as well, with a donation of just more than $9.000. The total for these donations was well more than $40,000. 

It's kind of comforting to know that Hardwick isn't receiving any big donations from corporations or other heavy hitters in Missouri. 

I was also curious about where Hardwick is spending his money. As I've discussed in previous posts, the majority of a campaign's dollars go to printed materials. In addition to the traditional signs purchase, Hardwick spent about $3,000 on a mailer before his 8-day report. One of his more interesting expenditures was on Facebook ads. Hardwick has spent almost $700 on Facebook ads throughout the campaign. 

So why is this important? Well, while Hardwick may not be getting the big bucks from Cerner, other candidates are. Taking a critical look at where candidates' money is coming from allows us as voters to really evaluate whose interests candidates are really representing. All that's left is sewing patches onto their suits like NASCAR drivers do for their sponsors...