Newcomer outraises incumbent in financial race for Vanderburgh County Commissioner

Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press

EVANSVILLE — This year's Vanderburgh County primary election only has one contested race on the local level, with a political newcomer facing a longtime office holder.

The Republican primary for District 3 Vanderburgh County Commissioner will have voters choosing between incumbent Cheryl Musgrave and challenger Amy Canterbury.

Whoever wins May 7 will face Democratic candidate Hope Fussner in November.

As the primary approaches, candidates were required to file their campaign finance reports for the period of Jan. 1 - April 12.

Here's what the reports from Vanderburgh County's only contested race show.

Who raised more money?

During the pre-primary reporting period, Canterbury raised nearly $100,000 more than Musgrave.

Canterbury received $153,676.75 in contributions, while Musgrave brought in $52,906.41.

But a major difference between the two candidates is the financial status of their campaigns at the start of the reporting period on Jan. 1.

Cheryl Musgrave
Cheryl Musgrave

As a longtime political figure in Vanderburgh County, and coming off a campaign for mayor of Evansville, Musgrave started with a large sum of money in her account already.

Musgrave had a little over $103,000 on hand. Coming from the private sector into politics, Canterbury started off with $0.

This means Musgrave and Canterbury ended up with around the same amount of money during this time period, with only a few dollars separating their totals.

Who were the big donors?

Musgrave's largest contributions from individuals were familiar names for those who have followed her previous campaigns.

Developer Wayne Kinney gave $5,000, as did current Vanderburgh County Commission attorney David Jones.

David Jones' law firm, Jones Wallace, also donated $5,000.

Musgrave also received a total of $10,000 from the political action committee for engineering firm American Structurepoint.

Amy Canterbury
Amy Canterbury

Canterbury's largest individual donations came from EnCom Polymers president Richard Kaskel at $10,000 and former Vanderburgh County GOP chair, Wayne Parke, at $5,000.

Business donors included Kaskel Super Service, LLC ($5,000) and and communications business South Central ($5,000).

Heritage Petroleum, which employs current Vanderburgh County Commissioner Justin Elpers, also donated $5,000 to Canterbury.

Who spent more money?

Canterbury also outspent Musgrave during the reporting period.

Between expenditures on items like billboards, printing and political consulting, Canterbury spent $110,171.34.

Musgrave spent $56,055 for the same period, on many of the same types of expenditures − media, printing and website costs.

How much did the candidates end the reporting period with?

  • Musgrave: $100,060.78

  • Canterbury: $43,505

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Campaign finance reports for Cheryl Musgrave, Amy Canterury

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