Woodby leads all Republican Primary candidates in money received, spent

Published 10:40 pm Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Candidates continue to work to secure the needed votes to win the May 3 Primary for their respective office and recently turned in their financial reports for money received and spent during their campaign.

Campaign finance reports filed by the 17 candidates for Mayor, Sheriff, Trustee, Clerk, Register of Deeds, Circuit Court Clerk, and Highway Department Superintendent show that current Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby leads all the candidates in money received as well as money spent in her re-election campaign. The reports are for the period ranging from 04-09-2021 to 04-11-2022 with some candidates submitting three reports and others only one to date.

Woodby has received $36,300 in receipts and has spent a total of $30,764.33, according to reports received from the Carter County Election Commission for each candidate.

The amount is nearly one-third of the money spent by the Republican challenger’s Mike Ensor and Danny Ward. Ensor has received a total of $6,803.82 and has spent the entirety of that money on his campaign. Ward’s report showed a total of $11,250.96 in money received with $10,453.57 spent.

In the race for sheriff, Thomas Smith has the most contributions reported with a total of $21,846.30 while spending $16,588.72 on his campaign. Candidate Mike Fraley, meanwhile, has spent the most in his run for the office with $17,686.54 in disbursements while receiving $16,864.14.

Kim Birchfield has received total contributions of $15,032.23 and has disbursed all of that money into his campaign. Incumbent Sheriff Dexter Lunceford has reported $8,400 in contributions and disbursements of $5,126.71.

Of the five candidates vying for the office of trustee, Aaron Greer led in the amount of contributions reporting a total of $16,807.03 with his expenditures matching the total amount of contributions. Chad Lewis reported $14,140 in contributions and disbursements of $12,897.61.

Andy Wetzel’s campaign report shows contributions of $5,200 while Wetzel has disbursements of $4,882.88. Jeff Guinn reported contributions of $2,900 with a balance of $7,894.04 still owed on his campaign.

While Larry Adams shows no contributions, his report shows an amount of $7,538.36 spent on his candidacy. Travis Hill reported contributions of $1,730 with $1,698.48 spent.

In the clerk’s office race, incumbent Mary Gouge turned in a report of $1,129 in contributions and $900 spent while her challenger, Randall Jenkins, has reported a total of $14,670 in contribution money and disbursements of $14,655.02.

Jarrod Ellis who is running unopposed for Register of Deeds turned in a report of $2,100 in contributions and disbursements totaling $2,075.

Two other candidates seeking re-elections to their respective position, Highway Superintendent Roger Colbaugh and Circuit Court Clerk Johnny Blankenship, each reported receiving no contributions and no disbursements.