Sheriff candidates top list for spending

The three Republican candidates for sheriff have spent more than $125,000 combined on billboards, TV ads, signs, shirts and events to try to win your vote.

No other local races even come close to the amount of money raised and spent by the three candidates, according to campaign finance reports filed by the candidates. And the amount is shown in the number of television ads, billboards and yard signs you’ve been seeing for months promoting each person.

In past elections, campaign spending has been looked to as a measure of the amount of support for a candidate. And the three men running for sheriff hope that the work they have done to promote themselves will help them get the name recognition to win the nomination as the Republican candidate.

Thousands of dollars are also being spent by candidates in contested races for county auditor, commissioner, county council, town council and Circuit Court judge. Four candidates seeking two seats on the Johnson County Council have spent between $200 and $900 on their campaigns. Candidates seeking one of two open seats on the Bargersville Town Council have spent more than $3,300. The two candidates for judge have raised a total of nearly $50,000 and spent nearly $35,000, according to the reports filed with the county last week.

Candidates raising money for their campaigns said they try to find a balance between funding their campaigns and making sure donors know their donation doesn’t get them special treatment if they are to win election, the three candidates for sheriff said.

Duane Burgess, who currently works as the Johnson County jail commander, sees his donors as people who have watched him rise through the ranks at the sheriff’s office and want to support him in his bid to lead the office.

Burgess has raised money from more than 100 donors, and said that has taken a lot of work, from hosting events to knocking on doors. But now, supporters for his campaign are asking for materials such as signs and T-shirts that his campaign is paying for, he said.

“It’s very humbling to have that issue and to have their support,” Burgess said.

Donors have given money to help him get his name recognized, and that is exactly what he has tried to do, spending money on printing, signs, ads and events during the last two years that he has been campaigning, he said.

Kirby Cochran, an investigator at the sheriff’s office, wanted to make sure he ran his campaign as frugally as possible, and would not have to pay any money back after the election, he said. That meant talking to a lot of people to land donations from at least 25 people and businesses to help fund his campaign.

But that has also allowed him to introduce himself to more people, and that is important since signs aren’t what wins an election — votes do, he said.

“That’s been an advantage for us, we’ve been out meeting people, and we hope that will lead to a lot of votes,” Cochran said.

Cochran’s focus has been on getting his name and face out to the public, including a picture of himself on his campaign materials, to make his campaign more personable, he said. That was a choice he made after the success of a campaign he was involved in with the Indiana Donor Network, which used his photo, along with the photo of the donor who saved his life, he said.

Stoney Vann, a retired Indiana State Police officer, has invested in ads, signs and billboards, just like the other two candidates. But recently, as Election Day approaches, he has been spending his time calling and visiting residents, he said.

And he is spending his time everywhere in the county — in all nine townships. He doesn’t want to focus on White River Township or Greenwood just because they are the most populated, he said. He is visiting Edinburgh and Bargersville and lots of other areas that he said candidates tend to ignore.

“I gravitate to areas other candidates ignore, that is kind of how I approached my campaign,” Vann said.

Vann has mostly self-funded his campaign, which was a measure he took to maintain his integrity and not accept money from someone who would want something in the future, he said.

“Because of that, my campaign has suffered financially, and I’ve had to kick in a good portion myself. But I have maintained my integrity,” Vann said.

All three candidates said they have made it clear to any donors that their money will not win them any favoritism if they are to be elected sheriff, whether that be for a job or any kind of favors.

That is a message Cochran makes clear to any donors, whether that is to his campaign or to the nonprofit he formed or the organizations he serves on as a board member, he said.

“We don’t owe anybody anything, we don’t owe them favors, we’ve made that clear to everyone,” Cochran said.

And that is an understanding Burgess makes sure his supporters have right from the beginning, he said.

“People have an understanding of who I am and what I stand for,” Burgess said. “The job comes first.”

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Here is a look at how much candidates for local offices have raised and spent:

Sheriff

Jason Boudi, Democrat

Raised;$0

Spent;$0

Duane Burgess, Republican

Raised;$58,593

Spent;$47,547

Kirby Cochran, Republican

Raised;$51,550

Spent;$37,897

Stoney Vann

Raised;$57,686, Republican

Spent;$42,010

Circuit Court judge

Ryan Dillon, Republican

Raised;$18,419

Spent;$12,153

Andy Roesener, Republican

Raised;$30,593

Spent;$22,541

County council

Steve Byerly, Republican

Raised;$700

Spent;$903

Justin Griggs, Republican

Raised;$0

Spent;$724

Rob Henderson, Republican

Raised;$1,800

Spent;$230

Pete Ketchum, Republican

Raised;$1,960

Spent;$703

County commissioner

Matthew Adams, Republican

Raised;$0

Spent;$621

Kevin Walls, Republican

Raised;$10,029

Spent;$1,539

County auditor

Pamela Burton, Republican

Raised;$1,000

Spent;$6,141

Ryan Rather, Republican

Raised;$5,642

Spent;$5,148

SOURCE: Campaign finance reports

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