Allen was top spender
By Kevin Huelsmann, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Date: November 20, 2012
Barbara Allen outspent all of the other candidates running for the Teton County Board of Commissioners during the run-up to the November vote.
Allen, a Republican, spent $12,637 between Sept. 12 and Nov. 6, according to a finance report submitted to the county clerk’s office Friday. That means Allen, the top vote-getter in the race for county commission, spent about $2.50 for each vote she received.
Candidates were required to file their last campaign finance report on Friday. The reports show candidates’ total spending and fundraising efforts from the entire election. They also outline how the campaigns fared in fundraising and spending after the primary election in August.
Allen and Melissa Turley won seats on the commission. They didn’t spend the largest amount per vote among the field of four candidates.
All four campaigns focused a majority of their spending on the months leading up to the general election. None of the candidates faced elimination during the primary election.
Allen spent a total of $16,050 over the course of the election. Of that money, she spent slightly more than $12,600 between mid-September and early November.
Her opponents — Republican county commission incumbent Paul Perry and Democrats Turley and Claire Fuller — also focused on the crucial months before the November election, but they spent far less than Allen.
Perry, who was fighting for his first full term on the board after being appointed to fill a vacancy, spent $12,517 from September to mid-November. His spending was the second highest in the election. Perry, who owns Canvas Unlimited, spent roughly $2.68 per vote in the months leading up to the general election.
Turley, who is halfway through a term on the Jackson Town Council, spent $6,203 between Sept. 1 and Nov. 16. That means she spent about $1.24 per vote.
Fuller, a longtime Wilson resident who helps run her family’s ranch, paid $4,461 for advertising and marketing between September and mid-November.
All of the candidates spent a majority of their campaign dollars on print advertising, though some also invested significant funds in mailings and radio advertisements.
Allen won 5,036 votes in the Nov. 6 general election. The other winner, Turley, came close behind with 4,984 votes.
Perry received the votes of 4,672 citizens. Fuller received 4,402 votes.