Guymon outspent all other school board candidates combined

• Craig Guymon

Craig Guymon debated his fellow Mitchell school board candidates before the 2012 election. (Daily Republic photo)

Talk about it

Campaign finance reports show that in the June 5 race for two seats on the Mitchell Board of Education, losing candidate Craig Guymon outspent all other candidates combined.

Guymon, who finished third, reported spending $4,733.18 of his own money on the race. He reported no campaign contributions.

The money, Guymon said this week, was spent on mailers “to get the word out.”

Fourth-place finisher Ed Potzler’s report shows he spent nothing on his campaign. His official report listed no contributions or expenses.

Winning candidates Neil Putnam and Theresa Kriese spent $515.88 and $854.38, respectively, on their campaigns.

That means Guymon outspent Putnam by a $9 to $1 margin and spent about $5.50 for every dollar spent by Kriese.

Putnam spent $5.88 of his own money. He reported $160 in unitemized contributions (from donors who gave less than $100), and $150 from Mark Buche, $100 from Hank and Patty Flack and $100 from Don Dailey.

Kriese spent $579.38 of her own money, reported $150 in unitemized contributions, and a $125 contribution from Buche.

Guymon is officially contesting the results of the school board election. He does not expect the outcome of the race will change, but he wants a hand count of ballots or a new election to ensure the accuracy of the scanner that was used to count votes in the election. The count was called into question after errors in the Election Night count led to another two counts two days later, before the canvassing of the election. The new counts reduced the vote totals but did not change the winners or placings.

Guymon’s attorney Sam Khoroosi, of Sioux Falls, said Friday he has received no information regarding a court date for an initial hearing in the lawsuit, but he expects a reply in the coming week.

The candidates’ finance reports weren’t available until after the election, when they were filed with school district Business Manager Steve Culhane. He said the post-election disclosure deadline followed the same pattern that has been established over the years and there are no immediate plans for change.

There is some dispute as to whether that’s proper procedure.

There was no definitive statement from Secretary of State Jason Gant’s office on when campaign finance reports should be filed, but state codified law 12-27-39 says election reporting laws apply to all state and local candidates as well as “school district offices and ballot questions in school districts with more than two thousand average daily membership,” which would include the Mitchell School District.

South Dakota Codified Law 12-27-22 states that reports must be filed “by 5 p.m. on the second Friday prior to each primary and general election complete through the fifteenth day prior to that election.”

Tags: election 2012, school board, campaign finance, news, updates, local, mitchell