Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano County Sheriff Randy Wright, who is waging a write-in campaign in a bid to keep his office, has raised and spent twice as much as his opponent, Shawano police officer Adam Bieber, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.
Wright has raised $14,881 since beginning his re-election campaign in April through Oct. 20, when the latest reporting period ended. He has spent $11,952 since April, leaving him with a cash balance of $2,929.
Bieber has raised $7,074 since beginning his campaign in May. He has spent $6,829, leaving a balance of $245.
Bieber defeated Wright in the Aug. 12 Republican primary and will face Independent candidate Lucas Christenson on Tuesday’s ballot.
Christenson has claimed the $1,000 spending limit that exempts him from having to file campaign finance disclosures.
At the end of the first financial reporting period, which covered April through June, Bieber was outspending Wright by more than $700.
Both candidates roughly doubled their spending through July, leaving them only a few hundred dollars apart when the previous finance reports were filed just before the primary in August.
Since then, contributions to Wright’s campaign have more than tripled, with $10,407 taken in, according to his financial report.
That figure includes in-kind donations in which supplies or services were provided at no cost. By law, the value of those supplies and services need to be included as contributions.
Wright has also spent $7,795 since August, nearly three times what he spent in the race for the Republican primary, including more than $2,500 for newspaper, radio and Facebook ads. He also spent $400 for video ads posted on his campaign Facebook page.
Wright’s largest contributions during this reporting period have come from individual donations of $20 or less at events he has hosted, according to his financial report. They include $2,283 collected at chili dumps and bake sales and $2,928 taken in at multiple wine and cheese events.
Individual contributors include Oconto County Sheriff Mike Jansen, who donated $400 to Wright’s campaign, and Walworth County Sheriff David Graves, who donated $300.
Contributions to Bieber’s campaign this reporting period totaled $2,399, according to his financial report, including $550 of his own money for a total of $1,000 in self-donations since his campaign started.
He has also received financial support from several county supervisors, including $230 from Deb Noffke, $400 from Michael McClelland and $419.50 — the legal limit for an individual contributor — from Marlin Noffke.
Bieber also received $250 from the Republican Party of Shawano County.
Bieber has spent $2,318 since August, with $1,435 of that going for newspaper, radio and Facebook ads.
Other expenses for both candidates have included yard signs, lumber, paint and materials for larger signs, T-shirts, printing costs, gas used in their door-to-door efforts and parade candy.