How much for a council seat?

Although the down economy meant 2010 didn’t break records again for campaign expenses, as the 2006 and 2008 races had done, there was still a wide variance in how much it costs to wage a successful campaign.

Top vote getter, and the only incumbent in the Hesperia City Council election in 2010, Thurston "Smitty" Smith, spent $22,218 during the election and collected 7,607 votes, each of which cost him approximately $2.92.

Bill Holland came in second in the race, getting 6,740 votes, but spent only $4,349 to do it. Each cost him, on average, 64 cents.

And finally, Russ Blewett took the bronze medal in the race, but his place on the podium was the most expensive. He spent $32,169 for his 5,286 votes, for a cost of $6.08 each, twice what Smith paid and almost 10 times what Holland paid.

Three of the other five men in the race filled out campaign disclosure forms indicating they anticipated raising and spending less than $1,000 on their campaigns this year. Assuming that Sean Wright, James Madison Blocker and Dennis De Hay spent exactly $1,000 on their campaigns still makes the rest of the field thriftier than everyone but Holland:

Fourth-place vote getter Wright picked up 4,053 votes with $1,000 or less, for a total of 24 cents per vote.

Don Parkman earned 3,613 votes and spent $3,750, for $1.03 each.

Blocker received 3,001 votes. If he spent $1,000 getting them, he spent 33 cents each to do it.

Dennis De Hay picked up 2,749 votes. If his t-shirts and newspaper advertisements cost him $1,000, each vote would have cost him 36 cents.

And finally, David Holman spent $7,199 and picked up 2,677 votes. Each vote cost him $2.68.

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 760-956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com. Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Hesperia.Star.