With $100, Lisa Smith made personal political history.
“I decided to donate to a candidate I believe in,” said Smith of Syracuse. She has never before donated to a campaign. But this time a local candidate caught her eye.
Smith’s candidate is Tom Buckel, the Democratic challenger for the 7th District seat in the Onondaga County Legislature. Buckel is running against four-term incumbent Republican Jim DiBlasi in the Nov. 6 election.
Smith is one of more than 130 local donors who have helped Buckel raise almost $29,000 since January to support his campaign, according to the required filing of campaign finances with the New York State Board of Elections on Oct. 5.
For Smith, Buckel made an impression when she spoke with him at several meet-and-greets and when he came to her front door as a part of his door-knocking campaign. Buckel attributes that grassroots approach for his fundraising success as a challenger.
“As a non-incumbent you have to start from scratch,” Buckel said. “It takes a lot more effort to reach out to people who don’t know you to convince them to provide financial support.”
Buckel’s fundraising is among the highest for candidates for county offices. Here is a snapshot of his campaign dollars and some comparisons:
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As of Oct. 5, Buckel had raised a total of $28,999.
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That’s about $6,000 more than the incumbent DiBlasi, whose total was $22,700.
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Buckel drew in almost three times as much funds as the 13 other challengers in county legislature races. raised. Only three other challengers have raised more than $10,000.
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In the Fourth District, challenger David Stott, also a Democrat, comes closest with $15,487 raised. That includes $7,000 out of his own pocket.
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In his 7th District race, Buckel spent $13,325.91 on his campaign, leaving him with $15,673.09.
Buckel attributed his ability to raise more than other candidates to “old-fashioned persistence.” He also cited a large local base of friends, family and acquaintances from years of community work in various local charities and in Democratic campaigns.
Buckel’s contributors and expenses reflect the local, grassroots style of his campaign. Consider these statistics:
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54 percent of his contributions — $13,264 — came from individual local donors.
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Most of them are small donors: Less than 1 percent of Buckel’s 136 individual donors gave more than $200.
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12 percent of his contributions — $3,500 — came from local unions.
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55 percent of his campaign expenses — $7,356.33 — went towards postage and printing of mailers and other literature sent and given to local likely voters.
“The important goal is to reach people who actually live in the district and actually vote,” Buckel said.
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14 percent of his campaign expenses — $1,901.88 —funded town-hall meetings and fundraisers.
“The town-hall meetings are a way for me to listen to people on a grassroots level, on a neighborhood level,” Buckel said. “And for them to get to know me and establish a personal relationship.”
Buckel, a partner with the local law firm of Hancock & Estabrook, also cited strong financial support from local lawyers: $3,500 in donations came from local law firms.
Buckel’s two largest individual donations also have a lawyer connection. The donations are from University of Virginia Law School classmates and longtime friends: Cameron Cowan and Thurgood Marshall Jr., son of Supreme Court associate justice Thurgood Marshall. Cowan and Marshall, both Virginia residents, each donated $1,000. Cowan’s wife Patricia donated an additional $1,000.
For first-time donor Lisa Smith, a 7th District resident, the key to her pocketbook was Buckel’s plans for local economic development and stricter local ordinances to reduce crime.
“I like what he stands for,” said Smith. “So I decided to help out.”
(Melanie Hicken is a junior newspaper major.)
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