Candidates for property assessor have spent a combined $42,000 in pursuit of the county office whose Democratic nominee will be determined Tuesday night.
Leading the way in spending is current property assessor’s office employee Beth Martin, who reported $9,521 in expenditures in the reporting period that ended last week. Like almost all her 10 Democratic competitors, the bulk of her spending came in purchasing signs with her campaign spending $4,426 for that expenditure.
Martin hopes to succeed her boss, Carolyn Miller, in office. Miller is retiring after 20 years as property assessor, her departure bringing out 14 candidates, 11 of which are running for the Democratic nomination.
Placing second in spending is Randy England who spent $6,165, about half of which was for signs. England has returned to the political arena after narrowly losing the Circuit Court Clerk’s race to Lesa Scott in 2006 after he won the Democratic primary that year.
Michael Hillis placed third in spending. He reported $4,688 with his largest expenditures being signs and gas. Morford Bryant came in next with $3,844 in declared spending followed closely by Jacob Smith who spent $3,469.
David S. Hill was close on their heels spending $3,075, just ahead of Morris Bond who spent $2,902.
Jeff McGee was next with $2,668 in spending, just barely ahead of Helen G. Martin who spent $2,407, among which was 1,000 mini mints.
Mia-Lan Powers spent $1,977, nearly $1,000 ahead of the lowest spending candidate, Doyle Bratcher, whose campaign dropped $874 in the race.
The winner of the Democratic nomination will take on a father-and-son tandem in August with William Studer running as a Republican and Paul Studer running as an independent. Danny Clay Martin is also on the ballot as an independent.
All continuing candidates will have more reporting periods in which to report any money they spend.