Beagle ended the campaign with $80,820 on hand and won the race with 57 percent of the vote.
His Democratic opponent, Tipp City Councilwoman Dee Gillis, received $123,052 in contributions and $158,144 in in-kind contributions, which paid for media buys, mailers and phone calls by the Ohio Democratic Party and Ohio Senate Democrats. She ended the campaign with $8,400 on hand.
The wide disparity between the two campaigners’ resources was clear in the final weeks, when the airwaves were filled with Beagle tv ads, fueled by a final round of $638,736 in in-kind contributions from his party and its senate campaign committee. Meanwhile, Ohio Senate Democrats made $18,243 in in-kind contributions to Gillis during those final weeks - all for phone calls. Gillis said they simply ran out of money.
Dayton attorney Jeff Rezabek of Clayton unseated State Rep. Roland Winburn, D-Harrison Twp., with a major infusion of in-kind contributions for media buys as well. The Ohio House Republican Organizing Committee and Ohio Republican Party provided the bulk of Rezabek’s $494,569 in in-kind contributions, paying for media buys and mailing costs. The 43rd House District was one of five in the state that Republicans took from Democrats.
Rezabek, a Republican, collected $50,026 in contributions and had $16,589 left at the end of the campaign. He got 58 percent of the vote.
Winburn’s campaign contributions far-outstripped Rezabek’s, with Winburn taking in $166,596 since the pre-primary period. But he had just $85,580 in in-kind support, which covered mailings buys by the Ohio Democratic Party and research funded by the Ohio House Democratic Caucus.
The most expensive Montgomery County race was attorney Richard Skelton’s successful effort to unseat Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Frances McGee, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Montgomery County Board of Elections on Friday.
Skelton spends big to win Montgomery County judge race
Skelton, a Republican, loaned himself $270,000, received $32,252 in contributions and spent $290,803 between the pre-primary reporting period and Friday’s final report. He won the seat with 53 percent of the vote. McGee, a Democrat, raised $25,463, borrowed $43,000 - including $38,000 from herself - and spent $73,723.
In Mongtomery County’s three-way race for commission incumbent Commissioner Dan Foley out-raised and outspent his opponents. Foley, a Democrat, raised $136,957 and spent $136,521. His Republican opponent former Miami Twp. Trustee Mike Nolan raised $22,031 and spent $24,409 during the campaign. Independent Gary Leitzell, former mayor of Dayton, raised $4,752 plus in-kind contributions of $10,505 and spent $5,304. Foley won the race with 46 percent, Nolan won 44 percent and Leitzell had 10 percent.
Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith, a Democrat, raised $65,889 and spent $74,488 in his successful re-election bid. Keith beat Republican Harry Bossey with 55 percent of the vote.
Bossey raised $31,369 and spent $35,110.
Candidate spending can sometimes be more than receipts because of funds carried forward from previous reports.
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