Stanley, Hamblen spend the most running for office
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In the race for judge, Stanley’s campaign accounted for more than 50 cents of every dollar spent by the five candidates in the relatively short race which began in May with the announcement of Judge Charles Haston’s retirement. All totaled, the judicial candidates spent $61,544 on their various campaigns, much of which went to signs, cards, newspaper and radio advertising.
Stanley reported spending a total of $32,082. He ended up winning the race, carrying over 40 percent of the vote. His next closest competitor, local attorney Robert Newman, spent $15,153 in his campaign which saw him take 30 percent of the vote.
For the other three candidates, Keith Smartt spent $12,907, Richard McGregor $7,645 and Peg Stewart $2,757.
In the race for county executive, ultimately won by Kenneth Rogers by a 1,700-vote margin, former incumbent Carol Hamblen dug the deepest into her pocketbook, outspending Rogers nearly three-to-one. Hamblen reported spending $31,327 to Rogers’ $11,029.
The largest spending gap came in the days just before the general election Aug. 1 where Hamblen spent nearly half of the money on her campaign. However, about $9,000 of the amount went to pay back bank loans which were likely used to fund earlier campaign expenses.
Although the judgeship and county executive races saw big spending, the remaining races saw a drop. Incumbent Jackie Matheny spent a little more than $2,000 on his campaign, followed by write-in candidate Mason Black, who spent just under $2,000 after getting into the race late.
Trustee Joy Slatton, who defeated Emily Panter in the general election, ended up spending around $5,000.
Successful Register of Deeds candidate Terry Smith spent just under $4,000 in his re-election bid in which he had to fend off challenges in both the Democratic Primary and general election.