Collins, Tolliver outspending competition

Published 10:37 am Friday, March 11, 2016

Malone has made no expenditures

The top two spenders in the upcoming Lawrence County Commissioners race may end up serving together, depending on what the voters decide on Tuesday. Figures are from the pre-primary campaign finance reports filed with the board of elections earlier this month.

Christopher Collins, who is seeking the seat now held by commission president Les Boggs, has so far spent $13,387.27 to get the Republican nomination.

Of that, he spent $1,500 to Casey Communications in Columbus for consulting work; $6,179.41 for campaign signs from Victory Store in Davenport, Iowa; $3,503.32 for mailers, cards and post cards to Printing Express; and $2,654.54 to the U.S. Post Office. As of March 3, he had $6,784.73 on hand.

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Collins received one campaign contribution of $200 from Cheryl Ackison. The remaining funds came from a loan of $19,972 that the candidate made to his own campaign.

The next biggest spender is Jason Tolliver, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat now held by incumbent Bill Pratt. As of March 2, Tolliver has spent $10,942.75 He has received no campaign contributions and has made no loans to the campaign. He has spent $7,553.96 on labels and envelopes to AMS Direct in Huntington; $200 to the U.S. Post Office; $31.80 to Area Advertising in Ashland for business cards; $400 to Real Estate Guide of Mocksville, North Carolina for a website; $1,650 to River City Outdoor Advertising of Poca, West Virginia for billboards; $981 to The Tribune for ads; and $126 to Tidbits-Napier Publishing of Proctorville for advertising. Except for the expenditure to Area Advertising, all others were made by a credit card.

Pratt has received $4,710 in contributions with $1,000 from Susie Pratt, $3,110 from the candidate, $100 from Herb Nida and $500 from Richard Meyers. He has spent $2,411.88 to Printing Express for mailing and $2,275.21 to the post office.

Rich Blankenship, who is seeking the Republican bid for Boggs’ seat, has received $750 in contributions — $500 from the candidate and $250 from John Wolfe. He has spent $60.92 for cards from Cragers of Ironton; $334.62 for signs from Amusement Wraps in Ironton and $575 for ads from the Herald-Dispatch.

DeAnna Holliday, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for Boggs’ seat, has received $100 from Grant Barcus and has made a campaign loan of $777.60. She has spent $777.60 to Build a Sign of Austin, Texas.

Dave Lucas, who is after the Republican nod for Pratt’s seat, has received $1,450 — $100 from Aaron Heighton, $200 from Industrial Sanitation Inc., $200 from Paul Woods, $300 from Bill Dickens, $250 from William Ran, $300 from Jennifer Howards and $100 from Weber Financial Services. He has spent $617.32 — $237.02 to Printing Express for flyers; $300 to Signs Unlimited of Proctorville for signs; $60 to the Ohio Ethics Commission for a fee and $20.30 for a check order.

Boggs has received $300 in a contribution from Danny Holschuh and brought over from past campaigns $1,672.38. He has spent $300 with The Tribune for ads.

Tim Edwards, who is running as a Democrat for Pratt’s seat, has received $285.47 from Justin Brown and brought $118.16 over from a past campaign.

He has spent $60 for a fee with the Ohio Ethics Commission.

As of March 3, Jon Ferguson has received no campaign contributions with a balance of $239 brought over. He has spent $1,528.06 with $521.13 going to Super Cheap Signs online from Austin, Texas; $50 to Open Door School; $51.48 to Printing Express; $68 to Mt. Pleasant Church; $787.45 to the Lawrence County Fair Board for livestock purchases; and $50 to Ironton High School.

Doug Malone, also trying for Pratt’s seat on the Democratic ticket, brought over $9.66 from past campaigns and hasn’t received any contributions, nor has he made any expenditures.