McGee Leads NorCo Council Candidates in Money Race

Bill McGee going door to door

When I heard that a union agent was running for Northampton County Council, I was unimpressed. We already have one, and he drives me nutz. But Bill McGee, business manager for the Heat and Frost Insulators, has really impressed me. Over the past few months, when I'd turn around at a Council meeting, I'd often see him sitting there. Soft spoken, he listens more than he speaks. But he's really onto something when he talks about the need for creative curricula at community colleges for trade apprenticeships and skilled jobs. So much so that I'm voting for him. I believe many others will, too, because he leads the ten Council candidates this year in fundraising

According to his pre-election report, McGee started off the period between June 6 and October 23 with $20,484.71. He raised $36,400, giving him $56,884.71 to spend. So far, he has spent $24,227.75 on signs that you see all over the county, along with two mailers. He has $32,656.92 left in his coffers for last-minute spending. Obviously, trade unions are the main source of his campaign money.

Peg Ferraro, home wrecker

The only other candidate to spent anything remotely near McGee's amount is Ron Angle. He raised $3,125.19, but had $10,251.95, giving him a total of $18,377.14 to spend. He is extremely proud of the $500 contributions he received from Charlie Dent and Scott Wagner. Angle spent his money by giving $15,067.40 to consultant Cheryl Corsa (She hates when I mention her name, but she's good!) for two mailers to super voters. Though I am a super voter, I received no mail from Ron. That might be because, for the past few years, I have been voting by absentee ballot. Angle still has $3,309.74 left in his account for last-minute spending.

Tara Zrinski and Ron Heckman

Ron Heckman finishes third behind McGee and Angle in the spending war. Heckman started this period with just $152.92. He raised $9,710, mostly by lending money to himself, giving him a kampaign kitty of $8,861.92. He spent $8,220.61, mostly on newspaper ads in the small weeklies like the Press newspapers. He has $1,641.31 for the closing days of the campaign.

Next is Tara Zrinski, who has done a remarkably good job of raising  money for a first-time candidate. She started this reporting period with $681, and raised $6,106, giving her $6,787 to spend. She has spent $4,784.13, leaving her with $2,002.87 in her warchest.

Perhaps more impressive than her money is Zrinski's door-to-door campaign, which experts consider the most effective way to campaign.

Right behind Zrinski is Lori Varo Heffner. Starting with $2760, she raised $3,140, leaving her with $5,950 to spend. Of that  sum, she has given $1,950 to Sandy Werner for campaign materials, and has given Steve Barron $375 for robocalls (Barron does not benefit personally, but uses the money to buy minutes on an autodialer). Lori is extremely personable. As a psychotherapist, she might be able to cure me.

Next is Peg Ferraro, who told the audience at a recent fundraiser, "This is the last time." She started with $193.10, and raised $2,550. That includes a $2,500 donation came from the Pa Future Fund. This gave her $2,743 pile of money, but she spent only $360. She has just $2,383.10 left in her account. No signs. No mailers. No robocalls.  She's running no campaign. She has no need for one.She will be the top vote getter.

Peter Melan, who has never run county-wide, raised less money than Peg Ferraro.He started with $1,372.85, raised $1,050, and spent $550. I think I saw one campaign sign somewhere. For someone who started with such promise, Peter's campaign has been a total flop. I feel that I wasted the time I spent talking to him.

Hayden Phillips really surprised me. He started this campaign period with $3,452.69, but raised only $200. That came from Congressional wannabe Ryan Mackenzie. Phillips spent $679.88, leaving him with a $2,972.81 cushion for the closing days  He is clearly the most energized campaigner. He's been everywhere. He even opens my car door for me..   

He's raised no money to speak of, but is running the most energized campaign. He's everywhere. He probably has knocked on more doors than all the other candidates combined.

Seth Vaughn's campaign has been much like his Council and Committee attendance. Terrible. He started this period with $0 and raised just $300 from congressional aspirants Ryan MacKenzie and Justin Simmons.He claims to have spent it all, too.

Last is Glenn Geissinger, who spent part of his first term on County Council losing a Congressional race. Though he started off with a high attendance rate on Council, it has dropped dramatically in each succeeding year. He clearly thinks that being a Council member is beneath him. I saw no finance report filed by Geissinger. If one is there, I will report on it. I emailed him about this and received no reply. No surprise.