Campaign finance: How Muskingum County Commissioner primary candidates spent money
ZANESVILLE — Candidates for Muskingum County Commissioner spent thousands of dollars on advertisements and more, according to their post-primary campaign finance reports.
John Furek ran unopposed on the Democratic ballot in the May 3 primary. Melissa Bell won the Republican primary by a narrow margin over Anthony Adornetto.
Campaign finance reports were due Friday. They show who donated to each campaign and what how campaigns spent money through June 3. The board of elections has not checked the reports.
Here's what each candidate raised and what they spent money on in their campaigns:
Melissa Bell
Melissa Bell's campaign spent more money than it had on hand by the end of the primary, according to the finance report. The balance shows it was $556 in the red by the time the document was submitted.
The committee received $5,200 in donations from the time her pre-primary report was filed. She also contributed an additional $4,500 to her own campaign, and $10,000 was brought forward from the previous report, with a beginning balance totaling at $20,695.30.
The majority of that, $20,427, was spent on contracting services from Majority Strategies, a Florida-based company that has "over 125 years of collective experience influencing public opinion and behavior to create a desired action and outcome," according to its Twitter page. The finance reports states that money was used for "mailers and campaign."
One notable donor was Cody Pettit, a recently appointed Zanesville City Council member. He contributed $250 to Bell's campaign.
Anthony Adornetto
Anthony Adornetto For Commissioner had a total of $9,903 on hand at the beginning of the post-primary report. He spent all but $1,389.59 by the end of his campaign.
His campaign raised $1,118.45 between the time of the pre-primary report and the post-primary report. The committee forward money from the last for a total balance of $9,903.78, and later spent 87% of that, mostly on advertising.
The recipients of that money included WHIZ Media Group, Kessler Sign Company, and the designer of the ads based in Norwich.
John Furek
John Furek's campaign had a balance of $2,054.90 at the time of the post-primary report filing. It spent $17.50 total throughout the primary campaign.
The Committee to Elect John Furek received $275 in financial contributions. His only expenditures were for electronic transfers for receiving donations online.
All of his donors were from Muskingum County, except one individual who lives in Boulder, Colorado. They donated $50 to the campaign.
ecouch@gannett.com
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Twitter: @couchreporting
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: How Muskingum County Commissioner candidates spent money in primary
