by Jack Lee
In the post election analysis for Supervisor in the 3rd district, Butte County, it looks like the deciding factor was as usual… money. Incumbent Maureen Kirk (democract) raised nearly 480% more money than her challenger Erny Spears (Republican) who ran his first race ever. Ironically, Erny received more votes than Larry Wahl who won against Jane Dolan in the 2nd district.
Kirk’s campaign spent about $1.96 for each vote she received, while Erny Spears spent a mere .71 cents per vote, yet he captured over half the total vote. Do the math, in terms of efficiency (making the most of what he had) Erny Spears did a much better job. And in theory if he had just half the money Kirk had at her disposal it’s conceivable that he could have won the race.
The ability to do fund raising by Kirk should not be a surprise. According to FPPC incumbents always get the lion’s share of campaign contributions. And this explains why incumbents are re-elected almost 93% of the time.
To his credit, Erny Spears did a very respectable job as a first time challenger and it shows he has good potential should he choose to run again. I’m wondering if Erny shouldn’t take a shot at the Chico City Council? There’s three seats up for re-election in November and the Council is in dire need of balance between conservatives and liberals. Currently the council is completely dominated by liberals with only one lone conservative voice and he departs in January.