Campaign funds come into the contest for the Carmel Clay School Board

Carmel, Indiana – A steady flow of ballots has been arriving in Carmel for early voting. However, monetary contributions have been more of a whirlpool in the competition to fill two Carmel Clay School Board seats.

There are rival slates of PAC-endorsed candidates in the race.
Last year, Carmel Excellence was established with the express purpose of winning the two at-large seats in the next election. Erik Young, the PAC’s chairman and one of its founders, stated that the group wants to elect conservatives to the board.

According to Young, “I believe we represent the values and viewpoint of the constituents in Carmel.”

The PAC has less than $2,000 in cash on hand, after raising $31,428 so far this year, according to its registration. Carmel residents Scott Warton ($2,000), Robert Bush ($2,000), and Abby Rogers ($5,000) are among its top donors. Newspaper ads in The Current cost about $3,900, the biggest of the Carmel Excellence expenses ($29,633).

Click here to get a copy of Carmel Excellence’s disclosure report on campaign finance.
Dina Ferchmin and Robin Clark have been recommended as Carmel Excellence contenders.

According to the financial disclosure filings, Ferchmin earned $34,878, the most amount of any school board candidate, while Clark raised $22,570. You may find the financial reports for Ferchmin and Clark, respectively, here and here.

Numerous donors also contributed to both Carmel Excellence candidates.

Roxanna Morgan, a resident of Carmel, made the greatest monetary donation, contributing $5,000 to each. Additionally, three prominent Republicans gave money to Ferchmin and Clark.
US Representative Victoria Spartz, Indiana House Member Jerry Torr, and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita all took out $500 checks from their campaign funds.

The way both Ferchmin and Clark used a large portion of their campaign funds is another resemblance. Together, they gave the Iowa political consulting business Right Strategies close to $30,000.

In an email, Clark clarified, “Right Strategies is a full-service campaign consulting firm, and they frequently design and order materials for us and then invoice us.” “Campaign consultants frequently do that.”

Jon Shapiro and Kris Wheeler are the other contenders for the school board position.

Shapiro has $5,3271 remaining in his campaign account after raising $16,799 this year. You may find his campaign financial report here.

Four people of Carmel are his biggest donors. Judy Weitzman, Martha and Scott Pauley, Ryan Pfenninger, and Steve Jacobs each donated $1,000.

Wheeler’s primary source of funding is herself, and she raised the least amount of $11,825 of any contender. According to Wheeler’s financial disclosure, she loaned $7,070 to her campaign. You may find that report here.

Support CCS, a PAC that hopes to build on its success of supporting the victorious Carmel Clay school board candidates, has backed Wheeler and Shapiro. Two of the three district board seats up for election in 2022 were contested by Support CCS candidates.

In this election, Support CCS has collected the most campaign funds. According to their campaign finance disclosure, which is available here, $68,771 was donated throughout the year.

Carmel locals Dianne Hannah and Laura Miller ($5,588) are the top givers. Michael Beresford, the current superintendent of Carmel Clay, is another donor, contributing $193.

A portion of that sum, $7,000, has gone to Indianapolis-based political consultants Brown Progressive Strategies. The firm’s website declares, “Getting Democrats Elected.”

Does that mean Support CCS is utilizing the company to find Carmel Democrats who could be inclined to support Shapiro and Wheeler? Jennifer Cashin, chairperson of Support CCS, says no.

Cashin stated, “It’s not just focusing on the Democrats in our community.” “With our digital media campaign, we’re primarily reaching over 50,000 people in the community.”

With $31,262 in available funds in its campaign account, Support CCS has a financial edge going forward and intends to utilize it.

Cashin stated, “we definitely have some tactics that you’ll see deployed as we lead up to Election Day.”

And the campaign still has a week and a half to go.