10 hours ago
With qualifying over, campaigning begins for municipal elections
Jun. 26—Running for office isn't cheap, and experienced politicians say the candidates who qualified for the 2025 municipal elections should be prepared for the campaign costs.
Qualifying for the Aug. 26 elections ended Tuesday with 26 candidates entering Decatur's mayoral, City Council or Board of Education races. Qualifiers in five of the 11 races are unopposed, with five incumbents seeking reelection.
The race to replace Mayor Tab Bowling, who is completing his second term and isn't running again, features four candidates: Billy Jackson, Kent Lawrence, Butch Matthews and Suzie Wiley.
Bowling said Wednesday that he spent about $23,000 on his 2016 campaign and close to $50,000 in 2020. While his costs more than doubled, he said he was fortunate he didn't have to buy signs in the reelection campaign.
District 5 Councilman Jacob Ladner, who also isn't seeking reelection, said he raised closed to $10,000, and he has about $30 left in his election account.
"I spent it all on signs, door hangers, mailers, social media and a website," Ladner said. "I hired Heather Wilson as a consultant for about $1,000."
Paige Bibbee has been through three campaigns. She ran unsuccessfully in 2008 for District 3 school board. She was elected to the City Council in 2016, but lost her reelection bid in 2020.
Bibbee said she was more conservative than some candidates. She estimated she spent $5,000 to $6,000 on her campaigns because she didn't want to owe a contributor for a future vote on an issue.
"I didn't take contributions, but I can see where someone in a council race could easily spend $9,000 or $10,000 if they solicit contributions," Bibbee said.
She also said a mayoral candidate spending $50,000 on a campaign "is not out of the realm of possibility. Mayor is a pretty big step up from a city council race."
All three said they see this year's campaign as different from the 2020 campaign because the previous race occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Going door to door, even during a hot summer campaign, has always been one of the most effective ways to campaigning, but personal contact was limited in 2020.
Ladner said his campaign left a lot of door hangers and, since "most people didn't want to answer the door," he hoped he could catch them out in their yards and have a conversation.
Don Kyle went through four mayoral campaigns, winning two and losing two. He spent close to $20,000 in his 2016 campaign.
Kyle said he thinks door hangers were the most effective for him, particularly with the city's older residents.
He said door hangers "might be the only time a resident thinks about you because they are so busy with their daily lives." While direct mail is necessary, he said it often gets lost in the junk mail that people receive.
All four former or outgoing politicians agreed that it's important to take advantage of opportunities like city events and political forums to speak with people and talk about their platforms.
Kyle said they tried to hit each home two or three times with a door hanger during the campaign and especially hit as many homes as possible two weekends before the election.
That gives the electors plenty of time to put the election on their calendar, "so hopefully they won't forget," Kyle said.
He said older residents aren't as tied in to social media, but it's a necessary tool in a campaign.
"You still need to be active and constant on social media to reach the younger residents," Kyle said.
While a higher percentage of older residents voted in past elections than younger voters, Kyle said he read a report this week that younger voters (ages 25-34) almost doubled in the New York City mayor's primary, which had in-person voting Tuesday.
"That's amazing," Kyle said. "But trying to get younger people interested is very difficult."
Kyle and Bibbee said one of the difficulties they had as incumbents was finding time to campaign while at the same time doing their job as mayor or councilwoman.
"When I took the job I wanted to give it my all," Bibbee said. "I know of candidates who just abandoned their job for their campaign, and that's just not me."
The upcoming municipal elections are a year later after the state Legislature passed a law in 2021 that pushed the term from four to five years, after which they will revert to every four years again. The change moves the municipal elections off of the even years when general and congressional midterm elections occur.
Kyle said he's concerned that the change could create election fatigue and impact turnout, especially since he thinks municipal elections are more important than state and national elections.
"I kind of wonder if people are kind of tired of elections," Kyle said. "We had the big one last year (presidential election) and the midterm is next year. It was a mistake (to move the municipal elections) because now there will be an election every three out of four years."
Kyle said they moved the municipal elections because city clerks and probate judges complained that they were having trouble finding poll volunteers. Instead, he thinks they should have put the general and midterm election together with municipal elections.
"That was probably too logical," Kyle said.
Bowling said he doesn't think the date change will impact Decatur's turnout. He said the number of City Council and mayoral candidates shows the amount of interest in city issues.
"It (the election change) might apply in the future, but right now in Decatur I think a lot of people are paying attention to the upcoming election," Bowling said.
The election comes after almost two years of protests following the fatal Sept. 29, 2023, shooting of Steve Perkins by a Decatur police officer. While the city waits on the officer's murder trial, a review by a third-party consultant led to a police chief change.
The city is also in the midst of growth as it tries to manage a large number of new subdivision developments and issues like build-to-rent homes and short-term rentals.
Bibbee said she agrees with Bowling that this Decatur election will get plenty of attention, but said Kyle could be right about election weariness in the future.
"There's so much going on in Decatur there's going to be a big push, although the turnout could depend on the weather too," Bibbee said. "The change may not impact this year, but people could have election fatigue for future elections."
Bowling said he "perceives, and I could be wrong, some candidates are running on kind of an isolated agenda." He said City Council candidates should be aware that a lot of work goes into representing their districts if they're elected.
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