Washington County Campaigns Report Final Election Spending

Washington County's 2014 elections cost nearly $100,000, according to the latest tally last week.

Campaign finance reports for all of the more than two dozen county office candidates in the general election were due to the county clerk by Dec. 30. Several candidates had yet to file those reports by Friday afternoon.

Earlier finance reports covered only those candidates who had opponents and spent or received at least $500 and were due in late October, meaning several days between then and the election went uncovered. The final reports show thousands of dollars in new contributions and spending.

Leading the final stretch of spending was County Judge Marilyn Edwards, who won re-election by less than 1,000 votes against then-Assessor Jeff Williams. Edwards, a Democrat, reported about $7,000 between Oct. 29 and Tuesday that went to paying leftover publicity bills and repaying $4,000 she loaned to her campaign.

Edwards' final expenditures topped off $35,000 she spent for TV, radio and other ads and a highway billboard, making her the biggest spender of all county candidates. Williams spent about $20,700, including almost $3,700 the final reports show went to radio ads.

The two opponents reported less than $1,000 in new contributions after late October, most of it from local political groups. Contributors included dozens of local residents, predominantly lawyers and retirees for Edwards and businesspeople and politicians for Williams. Edwards outraised Williams by about $2,000, reporting $23,600 in all. The rest of her spending money came from earlier campaign chests.

Spending and contributions remained far more lopsided in the county sheriff race. Sheriff Tim Helder reported $2,700 raised after Oct. 28, the most of any candidate in the races' final days. Tom Lowder, an Elkins dentist, gave $1,000 of that, while Fayetteville lawyer Chad Atwell contributed $500.

Helder spent about $4,300 for last-minute ads and an Election Night party, according to his report, pushing his overall spending to near $30,600. Mort Marshall, Helder's Republican opponent, reported less than $4,000 each in spending and contributions in late October and reported no change last week.

Eight Quorum Court candidates also failed to file their reports: Republicans Harvey Bowman, Joe Patterson, Lisa Ecke and Armistead Freeman and Democrats John Firmin, Kendra Boyle, Yessie Hernandez and Rhonda Hulse. Freeman, Boyle, Hernandez and Hulse are the only ones who had opponents and lost their races.

Boyle, Hernandez and Hulse, all Democrats, each filed the October reports. Their spending ranged from $223 spent by Hernandez to $2,300 spent by Boyle.

The Dec. 30 deadline is mandated by state law, and the Arkansas Ethics Commission could reprimand and fine candidates who don't file final reports. But punishments are largely complaint-driven, Graham Sloan, commission director, said last week.

The county won't be hunting down anyone who hasn't filed, said Becky Lewallen, county clerk.

"A lot people don't file them, especially if they lose," she said. "It's the responsibility of the candidate."

Of the Quorum Court candidates who filed the December reports, Daniel Balls, a Democrat who won Fayetteville's District 8 seat, reported the fastest spending in the last week of the race. He spent about $1,300 on ads, supplies and food, or almost a third of his total election spending. Balls defeated Freeman, who filed no reports, by about 350 votes out of 3,300.

Other candidates spent only their own money, spent nothing or reported little to no change from their October reports.

"I only had one sign," said Robert Dennis, a Republican who won the District 10 seat covering Farmington and reported no general election spending. He said the sign was left over from the spring primary. He kept moving it around, Dennis added with a laugh, which made people think he had lots of signs and kept his name in their minds.

James Miller, his opponent, reported receiving and spending about $1,000, most of it from Democrat groups and going toward advertising. Dennis said his job in retail and his lifelong residency in the area helped him meet and become familiar to voters. Miller didn't return a call Friday requesting comment.

"It's not as complicated as everybody makes it," Dennis said. "It's the people."