LOGAN – With in-person voting just days away, the candidates in Logan’s municipal election here have filed their next-to-last campaign finance reports.
Those reports indicate that candidate Joe Needham has emerged as the big spender in the race to determine who will fill three at-large seats on the Logan Municipal Council. The former Logan council member collected and spent contributions totaling more than twice what his next leading rivals spent on their campaigns.
At first glance, based strictly on campaign spending, the city election looks a horse-race between the three serious challengers for those seats – Needham, photo/video producer Mike Johnson and Hillcrest Neighborhood Council Chair Katie Lee-Koven. All three of those challengers outspent the two incumbents on the city council.
The incumbents up for re-election are local businessman Mark A. Anderson and Utah State University retiree Jeannie Simmonds. Incumbent council member Tom Jensen declined to run for re-election.
Of course, much of the spending by those three challengers was intended to build name-recognition with city voters, an advantage that the incumbents already enjoyed.
Based on his campaign finance report of Nov. 14, former Logan council member Needham collected contributions totaling nearly $10,000 and spent most of that on signage, print and radio advertising.
Much of the $7,783.13 that Needham collected in the final stage of the campaign between Oct. 24 and Nov. 14 came out of his own pocket and that of members of his extended family.
Johnson came in second in terms of total campaign contributions and spending. Johnson’s campaign spent about $4,500, most of that on social media advertising, yard signs and flyers prior to Oct. 24.
Lee-Koven raised about $4,000 in total contributions by Nov. 14 and spent more than $3,300 on print media and digital advertising.
In the final stage of her re-election campaign, Simmonds reported contributions of about $1,800 for a sum total of about $3,125. The incumbent council member spent most of that war chest on radio advertising.
Also apparently comfortable in his role as an incumbent, Anderson reported campaign contributions totaling about $1,700, with about $300 still on-hand.
Also in the running for a council seat is challenger Erin Bennett, with total contributions of less than $100.
A final campaign financial report is due from all candidates in the municipal election on Dec. 21.
City residents can still participate in the municipal election by returning their mail-in ballots via the U.S. Postal Service, provided those ballots are postmarked not later than Monday, Nov. 20.
Ballots can also be deposited in drop-boxes located inside City Hall and outside the County Clerk/Auditors office.
Logan’s City Hall is located at 270 North, 100 West in the downtown area.
The Cache County Clerk/Auditor’s Office is located at the Cache County Administration Building at 179 North Main Street in downtown Logan.
On Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 21), the county clerk’s staff will operate a Voter Assistance Center for in-person voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.in the Cache County Event Center. The facility will be open in Rooms 2 and 3 of the Event Center at 490 South, 500 West on the county fairgrounds.
The Cache County Clerk’s Office will be closed, however, on Tuesday, Nov. 21 except for activities related to the Municipal General
For additional information about municipal balloting, Logan City residents can go to www.CacheCounty.org/Elections.
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