Incumbent Seat 5 School Board Candidate Ruth Robarts forwarded me a note today that outlined MTI Voters (Madison Teachers, Inc. PAC) expenditures on behalf of her opponent, Alix Olson:

• Radio
  • $3656.00
  • $2700
  • $150
  • $3390
  • $500
• Newspaper Ads:
  • Badger Herald: $192.00
  • Capital Newspapers [286K 10-K PDF]: $3,341
  • Daily Cardinal: $152
  • Latino Newspaper (did not get the title): $114
• Flyers: $2,767

This looks like a rather expensive election. Olson has raised nearly twice as much money as Robarts, according to recent campaign finance disclosure filings. MTI Voters had $47K on hand according to their March 25, 2004 campaign finance disclosure filing [116K PDF].
This campaign reminds me of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold’s 1998 race vs. Mark Neumann. The Republican’s spent millions in soft (PAC) money in an effort to defeat Feingold (it should be noted that the Democrats planned to do the same but stopped after Feingold objected).

School Board Candidates & Groups (PAC’s) filed their latest campaign finance disclosures this past week. I’ve added receipts, expenditure and PAC receipt data here. Highlights include:

Raised most $’s:	Alix Olson	$11,203.21
(Olson’s opponent, incumbent Ruth Robarts has raised $5,839.44 and has accepted no PAC money)
Received most Pac $’s:	Alix Olson	$2,185.00
Raised least amount:	Sam Johnson	$1,656.30
(Johnson’s opponent, incumbent Shwaw Vang has raised $5,153,98 and has accepted $2,135 in PAC money)
Raised least PAC $’s:	Ruth Robarts	$0.00
PAC with most cash:	MTI Voters (Madison Teachers, Inc. PAC)	$47,391.55
PAC with least cash:	Get Real	$289.81
Fund raising Summary
Seat 3	Sam Johnson $1,656.30	Shwaw Vang $5,153.98
PAC Receipts	$306.30	$2,135.00
Seat 4	Melania Alvarez $2,111.27	Johnny Winston, Jr.$9,683.93
PAC Receipts	$266.27	$600 other + $1560MTI*
Seat 5	Alix Olson $11,203.21	Ruth Robarts $5,839.44
PAC Receipts	$2,185.00	$0.00
Learn more here… and vote April 6, 2004

* MTI Voters Campaign Finance Disclosure shows a $1,560 contribution to Johnny Winston, Jr’s campaign on March 17, 2004, but Winston’s March 29, 2004 disclosure does not show the receipt of this contribution.