In the money race for Onondaga County sheriff, Democrat Joe Price is short on cash.
Price has $657 on hand for his campaign, according to fundraising reports filed at the end of September with the New York State Board of Elections. Incumbent Kevin Walsh, a Republican, has $71,829. Toby Shelley, who’s running on the Working Families Party line, has $2,487 to spend. Shelley and Price are deputies in the sheriff’s office.
Price defeated Shelley in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary for sheriff. Shortly after, The Post-Standard reported a series of offensive online posts made on www.Syracuse.com under Price’s username, modman97. Price initially denied writing any of the 60 posts before admitting to writing three. The controversy has cost him the county Democratic Party’s resources and support. Price has since apologized and vowed to stay in the race.
The election is Nov. 2.
Price downplays his comparatively small campaign warchest. “I do more with less,” he said. “I won a primary raising $1,900.”
Price’s campaign manager, his younger brother Justin Price, agrees. “We’ve tried to maximize every dollar and most of our efforts are in handshaking and appearances at functions at an event,” said Justin Price.
In 2006, before Joe Price’s first run for sheriff, he bought a giant bear costume on e-Bay. Price has used the bear costume at numerous events since. “We can go to an event with our bear costume, and shake 400 hands for free, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Joe Price said.
Some highlights from Price’s campaign finance reports to the state:
- He raised $3,285 for his campaign by the Sept. 30 reporting deadline.
- Nearly all of his donations — 82 percent — come from individuals. These donations amount to $2,690.
- The remaining 18 percent comes from political action committees, or PACs. They are organizations set up by candidates, or organizations to spend money to re-elect or defeat a candidate.
- The largest donation from a PAC comes from the 17th Ward Democratic Committee Club in Syracuse. The contribution was made before the controversy over comments on www.Syracuse.com under Price’s user name.
- Between June 9 and Sept. 25, Price spent $254.
He’s counting on grassroots campaigning instead of money, Price said. “We’re just campaigning door to door,” Price said. “Hands, feet and voices — ground and pound for the most part.”
(Michael Contino is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism and international relations major.)
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