More money equals more votes.
That is the trend the campaign spending records for the ASUO primary election suggest. In all but a couple of races, not only did the campaign that reported raising the most money win, but candidates also finished in the order of the money they reported.
“It’s easier to (get out the vote) with more resources,” said presidential candidate Alex McCafferty, who, along with running mate Alden Williams, finished first in the voting and in the fundraising stakes.
Zachary Stark-MacMillan, campaign manager for Jairo Castaneda, the third-place candidate, bemoaned the coincidence of high vote totals and high budgets.
“I just think that’s very unfortunate,” he said. “I think that the elections should be won by the candidates who can appeal most to students, not who can raise the most money.”
But both McCafferty and a spokesperson for his general election opponent Amelie Rousseau said money wasn’t the only factor in how they finished. Rousseau spokesperson Braden Wolf questioned the inference that more contributions equal more votes.
“I think that’s kind of an anomaly,” he said. “Campaigns that haven’t raised a lot of money have won in the past.”
McCafferty had a similar assessment.
“It’s not about who has the most money,” he said. “It’s about who gets out the vote.”
Even Stark-MacMillan conceded that rival campaigns may have simply campaigned more effectively.
Nevertheless, the results made a compelling case. McCafferty reported raising about $4,000 and finished first with 1,508 votes. Rousseau raised about $3,000 and got 1,188 votes. Castaneda, third in the election, got 707 votes after raising about $2,300.
The trend continued on to fourth-place finisher Cassi Gritzmacher, distant from Castaneda in fundraising with $831.60. Fifth-place finisher Pete Lesiak did not turn in a report of his financing.
The trend extended across races for other positions, as students running alongside McCafferty finished above all other candidates, with two possible exceptions where candidates did not submit finance reports.
The ASUO’s elections organizers have attempted measures to counteract high spending in the past, but an attempt in 2009 to cap candidates’ spending was vetoed by the University administration because it violated state laws.
“It’s a problem that’s happened basically every year,” Stark-MacMillan said of the relationship between fundraising and votes. “I don’t have a solution.”
Most of the money was contributed by candidates themselves, or by other students working on their campaigns. Castaneda’s campaign raised nearly all its funding thus.
Rousseau and McCafferty, however, also drew about a third each of their funding from outside sources. McCafferty said the outside donors to his campaign, who contributed $1,273, were members of his and running mate Williams’ extended families — aunts, uncles, parents and cousins who agreed to help him finance his campaign.
Wolf said Rousseau and her running mate Maneesh Arora had sent letters asking for money to family members, family friends and acquaintances from as far back as high school asking for donations, an effort that raised about $800.
Castaneda’s campaign used no such methods. If it had raised a similar percentage to Rousseau’s from family donations, however, its fundraising would have come close to hers.
However, Stark-MacMillan said that wasn’t how Castaneda’s slate had wanted to organize its campaign.
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Primary results align with slate fundraising
Daily Emerald
April 5, 2010
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