How much for a council seat?

(This story originally appeared in the Hesperia Star Tuesday, February 8, 2007)

Hesperia city council candidates spent a record amount of money in the 2006 election, but a winning election ended up costing as little as $4.60 per vote.

The top-getter in the election, Rita Vogler with 5,530 votes, spent $25,456 getting reelected, costing her only $4.60 per vote in the end.

Thurston "Smitty" Smith spent the least of any of the three winning candidates for Hesperia City Council, $25,075, but came in second place with 5,439, or one vote for every $4.61 spent on his campaign.

Reelection was a much more expensive proposition for the third-place winner in the election. Ed Pack spent a record $151,616 on his reelection campaign and received 4,365 votes, each of which cost him $34.73.

Only 70 votes separated third-place winner Pack from Jim Lindley, the top vote getter not to win a seat on the city council. Lindley spent $148,486 on his campaign and received 4,295 votes, for a final cost of $34.57 per vote.

Gadfly and online activist Paul Bosacki waged a grassroots campaign that included no fund-raising, but he has estimated he spent $400 on his campaign. Although he didn't win, Bosacki spent only 9 cents per vote he received.

Former park board member Richard Hall spent $4,481 on his campaign, and received 3,611 votes for $1.24 each.

Elena Campos disappeared early in the campaign season before formally dropping out, but spent $10,193 before all was said and done. Her name was still on the ballot on Election Day, and she received 3,256. The candidate who wasn't spent $3.13 for every vote she received.

Cynthia Darden had not turned in her final campaign financial disclosure forms by press time, but as of October 26, she had spent $1,472 on her campaign. On Election Day, she received 2,047 votes, for a cost of 71 cents each.

Last place candidate Glenn Aylor spent $18.22 on each of the 1,987 votes he received after spending $36,216 on his campaign.

These numbers are as accurate as possible, but Darden had not turned in her final campaign financial forms by press time and the office of the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters has denied repeated requests for the names of the 47 write-in votes.

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.