As political candidates across the nation were leaning more heavily on online and social media advertising, this year’s Montgomery County Board of Education candidates stuck to more traditional campaigning methods to get the word out.
The seven candidates who vied for four open positions on the school board spent about $21,000, on online advertising vs. about $36,000 on traditional materials, such as yard signs, brochures and buttons, according to the latest finance reports.
Spending by Karla Silvestre, who won an at-large seat, was nearly half of the total allocated to digital advertising while the other six candidates combined totaled spending for the other half. Pat O’Neill, who was re-elected to represent District 3, spent more than $13,000 on newspaper advertising.
Nationally, data shows candidates for public office continue to invest the most in television ads, spending an average of 45 percent of total expenditures on the medium. Expenditures related to “digital” and social media sources increased by nearly 20 percent between 2012 and 2016, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank.
Lynn Amano, who was defeated in the election by O’Neill, spent the least on online advertising at $185, instead investing $500 in direct mail and spending an additional $757 on campaign workers.
Silvestre, in her first bid for public office, spent about one-third of her total expenditures of nearly $31,000 on online advertising, according to campaign finance reports. Conversely, O’Neill spent just shy of $900 of her total $25,000 in expenditures on online advertising and website development.
Silvestre both raised and spent the most of the candidates, drawing contributions from county leaders including County Executive Ike Leggett, Council President Nancy Navarro, former county director of economic development Steven Silverman, District 6 U.S. Rep. David Trone, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Hyattsville and Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin.
District 1 electee Judy Docca and challenger Maria Blaeuer each invested about $5,000 in their campaigns, spending the largest chunk of funds on campaign materials. Docca spent $1,500 on online advertising, compared to Blaeuer’s $266.
Julie Reiley, the candidate who ran against Silvestre, spent about the same amount on campaign materials and online advertising at about $6,000 apiece. In campaign finance reports, Reiley documented contributing more than $14,000 of her own money to her campaign.
Running unopposed for District 5 was Brenda Wolff, who spent the least on her campaign at roughly $4,600, mostly attributed to campaign materials and online advertising, similar to the rest of the school board candidates.
