Ankeny School Board Candidates Raised More Than $50,000

The Ankeny school board candidates could have bought a couple brand-new cars for the amount of money raised in their election campaigns.

The campaign leading up to Tuesday’s school board election in which four newcomers ousted the four incumbents seeking re-election to the board cost the candidates more than $43,000.

The eight candidates — newcomers Dustin Graber, Brad Huss, Mike Rooney and Stephanie Jorgensen, as well as incumbents Aaron Johnson, Trent Murphy, Andrew Martin and Leslie Petersen — raised more than $50,000 total for their campaigns.

This year’s campaign finances made quite a jump from the last school board election in 2009.

Contributions in 2009 totaled about $6,500. Current board members George Tracy and Todd Shafer were the only candidates who filed reports in 2009.

Megan Tooker, executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, said it’s hard to tell why candidates spent so much money in this year’s election.

“You’re not comparing apples to apples (when it comes to elections),” she said.

One possibility, Tooker said, is the rapid growth of Ankeny’s population.

“The larger the community, the more likely you are to have to raise substantial sums of money to get your name out and be recognized,” she said. “When there are so many new members of the population, candidates might not be as well known.”

Each candidate seeking a public position is required to file a campaign disclosure report with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Disclosures are not required for candidates who collect or spend less than $750 in a calendar year.

The incumbents raised more than $30,600, while the newcomers combined raised almost $19,400.

Of the money raised, the incumbents spent just over $30,100 on their campaigns. United 4 Ankeny Schools, a PAC group formed in support of the incumbents, spent more than $28,600.

The four newcomers spent more than $13,400 on their campaigns.