Challengers face a wide money gap

If dollars are votes, the sheriff’s race is a runaway.

Sheriff Mike Prendergast’s campaign has collected a whopping $184,707, including thousand-dollar checks from just about every big-name mover and shaker in Citrus County.
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It is an impressive booty.

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Even more impressive — he’s spent just $2,200.

In his 2020 re-election, Prendergast collected $155,771 for the ENTIRE campaign.

Prendergast is a determined politician. He doesn’t back down from a fight, he prepares to engage in one.

His opponents, particularly Doug Alexander and Dave Vincent, are getting all the feel-goods, but they can’t touch Prendergast’s financial support.

Vincent collected $29,000, which is a little underwhelming considering he’s been in the race since July. Alexander collected $36,195, not bad for two months of campaigning. Calvin Adams collected $11,760. All three have tossed in some of their own money as well.

The challengers are also SPENDING much more on their campaigns so far than Prendergast. The incumbent is winning the money race hands down.

What does it all mean? Let’s take a look. (Totals are through March 31, according to reports with the Citrus County Supervisor of Elections.)

First, money is important. It’s needed. Can’t buy ads, pay for consulting services, or do any of the other high-level politicking that a sheriff’s race requires without significant sums of money.

It’s the rare individual who can get elected to a competitive countywide office without financial support. I can’t think of one off the top of my head.

The maximum individual contribution for the primary is $1,000. An individual is a person, business, or other entity. That’s why, for example, Steve Lamb as a person donates $1,000 to Prendergast’s campaign and his business, Crystal Motor Car Co., donates $1,000 as well.

The only people who say money isn’t important are those who have little or can't get any fundraising traction. Money is vital. So, for the sake of discussion, let’s stop pretending campaign money isn’t significant. 

However, it isn’t the ONLY consideration.

I wouldn’t have known that if not for the late Phil Royal. Phil, who enjoyed extraordinary public support in the 2016 sheriff’s primary prior to his tragic death, taught me a valuable lesson: Look deeper than the dollars.

Now I count the number of donors and the average amount per donor. I also look at how much candidates are spending, and why (there’s a funny story I cannot EVER write about, but corner me sometime at Cattle Dog and we’ll see).

Follow along:

— Adams: $11,765. Number of donors: 54. Average per donor: $217. Spent: 20%.

— Alexander: $36,195. Number of donors: 269. Average per donor: $134. Spent: 18%.

— Prendergast: $184,707. Number of donors: 376. Average per donor: $491. Spent: 1%.

— Vincent: $29,032. Number of donors: 339. Average per donor: $85. Spent: 33%.

We see that Vincent, while not all that strong in total dollars, is doing very well in attracting broad support of people. He’s only 43 shy of Prendergast on the number of donors, but look at the difference in amount of money those donors brought in. A third of Prendergast’s donors are businesses that don’t vote, but they still carry influence with employees and customers.

Vincent may need to push the envelope in contributions. That’s great having all those regular-people donors, but when July rolls around and Prendergast is spending tens of thousands on mail pieces, Vincent will need more than a few green T-shirts to counter.

Adams is doing about as well as I thought. I really like Calvin and have for many years, and he definitely brings value to this campaign (that’s him in the photo speaking at a well-attended sheriff’s candidate forum Wednesday morning run by the League of Women Voters of Citrus County). A good sheriff’s race has that finger-poking-in-the-chest candidate who gets on the incumbent’s nerves. Spend 20 minutes with Adams and you’ll walk away impressed. 

As for Alexander — we’re having a Cattle Dog chat in a few days — the question is how he continues to build a strong base that carries into August. He’s had a very good start, but this is a momentum game.

Prendergast understands all that. He’s saving his cash for when he really needs it, and that’s not April. No one is elected in the spring.

t’s easier for the incumbent. He doesn’t have to spend money telling people who he is. Everyone knows the sheriff.

That’s a lot of campaign data, and we’re just getting started. Breathe, Mike, breathe.

Have an awesome Thursday, friends.

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