Starkville mayoral candidates Johnny Moore and Lynn Spruill have raised a combined $100,000 in their attempts to secure the city’s highest elected seat, documents show.
Campaign finance reports for the two Democrats show individuals and companies from Starkville and outside the city poured $21,525 into the two campaigns’ coffers between April 23 and May 6, pushing the total raised for both Moore and Spruill to $100,380 since Jan. 1.
Tuesday was the deadline for mandatory, pre-runoff filings. Also filing were Ward 1 candidate Jason Camp and Alderman Ben Carver, who only learned of the need for a runoff Monday after the Oktibbeha County Republican Party declared their May 2 primary a tie.
Tuesday’s citywide Democratic runoff for mayor is open to voters who cast ballots in May 2’s Democratic primary or those who did not vote, while the Ward 1 runoff is open to Republican voters who participated in the original primary and those residents who did not vote.
A Ward 1 voter who did not vote in either of the May 2 primaries can only vote in either the Democratic runoff for mayor or the Republican runoff for alderman.
The winner of Tuesday’s mayoral runoff will lead the city for four years, while the winner of the Camp-Carver election will face Democrat Christine Williams in June 6’s general election.
Absentee voting will be open to the public at City Hall until noon Saturday.
Moore
Moore’s filling states the local attorney raised $7,075 and spent $8,726.29 between April 23 and May 6. He has $5,000.54 on-hand coming into Tuesday’s runoff.
Approximately $5,125 of Moore’s total raised this period was outlined in itemized receipts. Two limited liability companies — T.E. Lott and Company ($325) and the Louisville-based Winston Building and Supply ($500) — gave the mayor hopeful a combined $825. Listed as individuals in Moore’s itemized receipts, two other businesses — Ja-Co Foods, Inc. of Columbus ($2,000) and the Dyersburg, Tennessee-based Robert M. Rogers Investments ($500) — also donated.
The Ja-Co Foods donation is later listed on Moore’s disbursement filing as being refunded to the company for exceeding a limit.
Other individual donors listed in Moore’s report include attorney Brandon Langford ($300), Yazoo City-based developer A.G. Helton ($500), retiree L. Ray Johnson ($500) and project manager Michael L. Jackson ($500).
Since Jan. 1, Moore has raised $60,525 for the election. Of that total, Moore has personally loaned his campaign $35,740, while another $5,000 came from Starkvest LLC, a property-related company he disclosed as having a vested interest in with his recent statement of economic interest filing.
Moore has spent $55,524.46 so far on his campaign. Between April 23 and May 6, he reported spending $8,726.29 on consulting, advertising, printing, food, car rental fees and other expenses.
Spruill
Spruill raised $14,450 and spent $16,871.29 between April 23 and May 6, her campaign filing states.
She reported $3,720.30 in her war chest seven days before the runoff.
Approximately $11,500 of the $14,450 reported in receipts came from two loans Spruill gave her campaign, while another $500 came from Bruce Martin, the president and owner of the Meridian-based insurance company Meyer and Rosenbaum.
Spruill has spent $41,479.33 since Jan. 1 on her campaign, which includes $16,871.29 in disbursements between April 23 and May 6. In the latter timeframe, Spruill spent money on printing, consulting, advertising and campaign workers.
Ward 1
Both Camp and Carver had little to report on their respective pre-runoff reports.
Camp raised $25 and spent $73.23 since April 23, bringing his year-to-date totals for contributions and expenses to $1,575 and $1,481.64, respectively.
He reported having $93.36 on-hand before Tuesday’s runoff.
Carver’s filing is mostly blank, besides zeros in the row for cash on-hand. “4,720” is written under the column for calendar-year-to-date and beyond the box for cash on-hand. His previous filing reported $4,730 for both receipts and expenditures.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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