Butler County Update

Wow. Ohio Democrats either had money to burn or thought they had a chance against Roger Reynolds. Either way, they wasted some cash on a seat they had very little chance of winning. Over at the Western Star, our favorite intrepid reporter broke down the numbers so I don't have to! (How thoughtful of him!)

Jack Zettler's bid for Butler County auditor was backed with more than $67,000 from the Ohio Democratic Party, according to campaign finance forms filed last week, suggesting the party saw the seat as key in breaking Republican control of this county.

Still all that money didn't work. Zettler lost to Republican incumbent Roger Reynolds, collecting only 44 percent of the vote.

In addition to backing from Columbus, Zettler shelled out $67,108 in the final weeks of his campaign. Reynolds spent $37,617 during the same time period, plus more than $20,000 from the Ohio Republican Party.

The Butler County Democratic Party spent $11,700 backing Zettler of its total budget of $15,000 between Oct. 15 and the Nov. 4 election. The county GOP had $51,916 available in that same time period and donated $200 of it to Reynolds, according to records.

Dems spent $145,808 on Jack the Liar while GOPers spent $57,817 on our man Reynolds. That is a difference of $87,991...

And what are the numbers on the judgeship that the local Dems held?

The inverse to this was the race for Butler County juvenile judge, where Judge Kathleen Romans became the only Democrat elected to countywide office.

Romans spent $24,384 in the final weeks of her campaign. Her challenger, Tim Evans, spent $15,968 and received more than $8,000 of in-kind contributions from the state GOP.

I'm not sure how this qualifies as an "inverse" but okay...as I see the math, GOP spent $23,068 which works out to $-416.

Bottom line: The Democrats wasted a boatload of money on Jack the Liar and the Republicans barely got outspent on a judgeship that was going to be an uphill battle anyway. Who handled their finances better??? Now THAT is a story...