So you want to know who’s going to win HD58?
One of the best ways to judge strength of candidates before an election is by the amount of money they are able to raise. Not only does it imply the quality and level of campaign they will be able to run, but it is a good measure of the success they will have when they begin communicating with voters. That’s because giving money is way more painful than voting, so if you can convince someone to do that, voters will likely follow.
Just in case you forgot, HD58 is the Democratic-leaning seat that was held be Simone Bell before she resigned in November. The election is a week away, so let’s check in on the three contenders.
Park Cannon leads the way with $17,843 raised. Kwame Thompson lags far behind at $3,875, and Ralph Long didn’t even file a report. The fine for that is $250, so I guess we can mark him down in the negative. Shocked? Don’t be, he’s been fined 17 times before. In fact, he’s been fined a total of $1,425, which is almost impressive.
So if you are going to handicap this race based on all the information we have now, it appears all bets are on Cannon. Except if you are betting on who will accrue the most ethics fines, in that race the smart money is on Long.
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Stefan
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i can’t speak for this ralph long cat, but the ethics commission is horrible…i have 2 fines for “non filing” from them as well because they somehow have me in twice (now it may well be something i did to be in there twice) but i thought i followed all their rules and did everything they asked the way they asked me to do it. i made several attempts to have the issue cleared up and have now just given up and ignore them (not that they have ever actually contacted me to clear the issue up) the website still shows “jay melvin” as a violator and “james b melvin, iii” as all good…and i’ve heard of other folks having similar experiences so whenever i see them used as a source i’m dubious…
What happened to the ethics commission reform promised by the Governor during the 2014 cycle? It was put off last year because of… well… ‘cuz he could. Is it on anyone’s agenda this year?
As to Mr. Long perhaps paying the fine is less hassle than doing the paperwork. Maybe the fines should escalate or even disqualify you at some point.