The final 2017 Sioux Falls School Board Race Final Finance Reports came in on July 18. With those reports in we can present the ‘REAL’ numbers of what was spent in the race. I am comparing the top two vote getters, Dobberpuhl and Mickelson.
Mickelson, 2,278 Votes. She spent $6.12 per vote
(Spent $13,944. She raised $21,504)
Dobberpuhl, 1,811 Votes. He spent $1.39 per vote
(Spent $2,524. He raised a little under $2,000)
I originally posted that Mickelson spent 7-10x more than Dobberpuhl, which was NOT TRUE and wanted to correct this with the final numbers.
Mickelson’s Final Report (PDF DOC: Mickelson-YearEnd Report) and First Report (PDF DOC: cyn-a11)
Dobberpuhl’s Final Report (PDF DOC: Dobberpuhl-Final)
I spoke to the School Board about the last school board election and not only raised concerns about how the election was handled (Lack of precincts, etc.) I suggested that there should be a spending cap of $5,000 for candidates. I think it is very hard for regular candidates to compete when their opponents outspend them in such a drastic way.