What a difference four years makes, especially when it comes to campaign spending.
In 2011, during his District 16 District Attorney’s race, incumbent Forrest Allgood spent a little less than $24,000.
But as of Oct. 27, the deadline for candidates to file their pre-election campaign finance reports, Allgood had spent more than twice that amount – $49,106. Even so, Allgood’s spending to date is less than half of that spent by Scott Colom, his challenger.
Colom has spent $108,266 to date, with another $37,449 on hand before Tuesday’s election.
In other races, however, the trend is going the other direction, especially in the Lowndes County Circuit Court race. In the Republican primary and run-off, four candidates spent almost $65,000, including $50,200 spent by Margie Canon, who narrowly missed the run-off.
Since then, the four remaining candidates – Republican Teresa Barksdale, Democrat Joseph Mickens, Independent Tim Heard and Libertarian Sherri Bedwell — had spent a combined $16,486, with Barksdale leading with way with spending of $5,657.
In the Lowndes County Sheriff’s race, incumbent Mike Arledge has spent $4,490, slightly less than the $4,876 spent by Democratic challenger Selvain McQueen.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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