Election Results Are In!

Lauren Ruef
Electronic Journalism
April 14th, 2008
Math/Excel Story

Candidates Adams, McDonald and Peterson have been declared the winners of the 2000 elections, leaving opponents Smith, Thurston and Johnson without the vote. Campaign contributions provided by the Police Union, Save Our Planet Group and the Teachers Union were utilized by the candidates for the purposes of public relations consulting, direct mail piece, street posters, radio advertising, T.V. advertising and yard signs.

Peterson was led to victory with a total of $11,931,499 in donations, followed by McDonald with $9,316,093 and Adams with a total of $8,607,008. Candidate Thurston came in 4th place with $3,599,413 in funding followed by Johnson with $2,073,212 and Smith in last place with $1,722,877.In comparison to the 1996 totals, the 2000 election candidates fared an overall 28% increase in funding from the former $29,153,595 figure recorded. Candidates also experienced significant increases in campaign contributions from the previous election, apart from Smith who weathered a loss of funding by 52%.

The highest dollar amount in overall campaign contributions was devoted to TV Advertising at $20,976,906 followed by Public Relations Consulting at $7,210,942. These top two types of advertisement accounted for nearly 75% of the total funds offered as campaign contributions. Each interest group donated an average of 44% of their total contributions to a single candidate, which was different for each group. The Save our Planet Interest group donated the highest amount to Candidate Peterson for a total of $7,950,207, about 40% of total donations which led him ultimately to victory. The Police Union donated the largest portion of their funds to Thurston at a total of $2,552,536, almost 48% of total donations. Finally the Teacher’s Union donated the highest amount to McDonald with $5,217,625, about 44% of total donations.

A comparison between Smith’s campaign and Peterson’s revealed that direct mail and yard signs were utilized the most, unlike Peterson whose campaign consisted mostly of t.v. advertising and public relations consulting. These were the two most expensive options for campaigning, but also those which will likely led the top three candidates to victory.