THE COSTOF

RUNNINGFOR OFFICE

D A N C E N T I N E L L O

$$$$$$$$$$

By now, you probably knowthat Jason Kander can

assemble an AR-15 with hiseyes closed–over a million

have on YouTube alone, notcounting those who have

seen it on TV. You probablyalso know that Kander isn’talone in that skill, and thathe’s received poor grades

from the NRA. You probablyknow more about

politicians both local andnational than they know

about themselves, thanks tocampaign ads during the

political season.

The reason campaign adsare so widespread is simple:

they work. It’s estimatedthat politicians will spendover $4.4 billion in 2016alone campaigning for

public office. This includes,of course, the biggest

spenders: the presidentialnominees, which

overshadow the moneyspent running for local and

state office positions.

T H E C A M P A I G NP U Z Z L E

The more local the elect ion,the smaller the budget ,natural ly . Campaigns onsmaller scales ( township

trustees , c i ty counci l , etc)can run much smaller

budgets , in the realm of$13 ,000 to $15 ,000. In

contrast , in the year 1990,the average senate winner

spent about $3 .9 mi l l iongett ing elected, whi le the

average member of theHouse of Representat ivesspent about $400,000. By2008, those numbers rose

to $7 .26 mi l l ion and$840,000, respect ively .

T H E C O S T O F P O L I T I C A LC A M P A I G N S I S , A S Y O U

M A Y E X P E C T , O N T H E R I S E .W I T H T H E P O P U L A T I O N

C O N S T A N T L Y R I S I N G ,I N F L A T I O N A N A T U R A L

O C C U R R E N C E , A N D N E WL A B O R L A W S D R I V I N G U P

T H E C O S T O F H I R I N GC A M P A I G N E M P L O Y E E S ,

E V E N L O C A L O F F I C EC A M P A I G N S A R E G R O W I N G

M O R E A N D M O R EE X P E N S I V E B Y T H E Y E A R .

DANCENTINELLO