Campaign Finance Reports

Eight days before the election and the finance reports are in. I am pleased to find out that my professor had contributed $50 to the Bill White campaign. It is also nice to see that some of my fellow students are listed as contributors. Bill White totaled $21,351,029 in contributions with over 35,000 contributors. Perry raised $28,305,344 in contributions with a little over 25,000 contributors. White had many more contributors that donated in small amounts. Will Perry win because he raised 7 million dollars more than White? We will have to wait and see. In all likelihood, Perry will take the election for a number of different reasons. Perry is the incumbent and Texas is a Republican state. There are many more Republicans than democrats who are going to get out and vote on November 2nd. Perry probably didn't even have to raise more than White, because of those other factors. When November 2nd comes about, we will be able to see how much each candidate spent per vote. Going through the records, it is typical to see the candidate who spends more per vote will win. So, would it be safe to say that the candidate who raised more money will win? I think so, because that seems to be the trend. That brings me to my next question; Did all their advertising work? Well, it would seem that White has spent a ton of money on advertising, while Perry has not. As the incumbent, Perry doesn't need to advertise nearly as much as White. White is known throughout Houston and San Antonio, but not very well known throughout the rest of the state. Time will tell if Perry's money was better well spent and if White's enormous amount of advertising was a waste.