Campaign finance reports trickle in
Elected officials and candidates have about a week to file contributions and expenses through the first half of the year.
Floyd County District Attorney Leigh Patterson dipped into her campaign fund for one major purchase this year — $350 worth of cakes for local public safety agencies.
Patterson said Monday that she delivers the treats each year to fire stations, police facilities and other offices to mark Independence Day.
“A lot of people have to
work on the holiday,” she said. “They’re working while we’re out eating barbecue and shooting off fireworks.”
All elected officials and candidates are required to file campaign finance
reports detailing their contributions and expenses through June 30. A grace period runs through July 10. After that, there’s a $125 fine. Those who are in — or seeking — state offices file electronically with the State Ethics Commission. Local officials and candidates send their reports to the Floyd County Elections Department or their city clerks.
Patterson listed no donations for the reporting period, which started Feb. 1.
She spent an additional $100 on small, miscellaneous expenses, leaving her with a balance of $695.68 cash on hand.
Two of Floyd County’s Georgia General Assembly delegates also had posted their reports as of Monday, and three of the four Superior Court judges.
Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, reported a total of $88,094.38 in his campaign chest as of June 30. He took in $11,600 in contributions and spent $9,755.70 during the reporting period.
Hufstetler’s biggest expense was a $6,600 contribution to the Casey Cagle for Governor campaign, the maximum allowed for
a statewide candidate’s primary election.
He was among a group of Northwest Georgia elected officials, including Floyd County Sheriff Tim Burkhalter, who endorsed the lieutenant governor last month for the state’s top spot. Gov. Nathan Deal is term-limited and can’t run for re-election in 2018.
Campaign contributions to Hufstetler, an anesthetist and one of seven appointees to Cagle’s Georgia Health Care Reform Task Force, came mainly from the medical industry.
Major donors included Georgia Medical PAC, $2,600; Committee for Responsible Health Care Policy, $2,000; and Committee for Affordable Workforce Housing, $2,000.
Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-Armuchee, reported a campaign fund of $31,537 as of June 30. He took in a total of $500 in contributions — from AFLAC and Wholesale Distributors for Good Government — and spent $5,138.65 this year.
Lumsden’s biggest reported expense was $2,342.50 to rent a house in the North Brookhaven area during the 2 ½-month General Assembly session.
Travel time between Armuchee and the State Capitol is about two hours each way.
He also contributed $500 to Republican Karen Handel’s successful special-election bid for the congressional seat vacated by Tom Price when he was named U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. The two other Floyd County delegates, Reps. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome; and Christian Coomer, R-Cartersville, had not filed reports by Monday afternoon.
Superior Court Judges J. Bryant Durham and Jack Niedrach, and Chief Judge Tami Colston, all reported no campaign donations or expenses this year.
Colston and Durham have zero-balances in their accounts and Niedrach’s balance was at $46.43 as of June 30.
Judge Billy Sparks has yet to file a report. Sparks was appointed in September to serve the unexpired term, through Dec. 31, 2018, of retired chief judge Walter J. Matthews.