Flaggs raises, outspends opponents by far; other spending near same

Published 6:35 pm Saturday, June 3, 2017

With less than a week before the election, candidates vying for public office in Vicksburg filed their final campaign finance reports.

And while the race for mayor appears to be a financial blowout, with incumbent Mayor George Flaggs Jr. raising — and spending — more than his opponents, the races for aldermen appear to be far closer.

The Candidate Report of Receipts and Disbursements were due to the city clerk’s office, or filed with the Secretary of State’s office, by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

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In the race for South Ward Alderman, challenger Alex Monsour, who remains a sitting state representative, showed having raised $9,050 in the calendar year, but just $1,600 in the latest filing period. Of that, the Gary Chism Campaign in Columbus donated $1,000.

Chism is a Republican state representative from Columbus, who chairs the House’s Insurance Committee, of which Monsour is a sitting member.

As for Thompson, he reported having raised $7,350 during the year, with $2,600 of that being raised during the recent filing period.

Of the money raised, the largest donation came from AJA Management in Jackson.

According to AJA’s website, the firm, which lists the city of Vicksburg as one of its clients, “AJA is authorized to provide engineering services in the State of Mississippi by Certificate of Authorization No. E-1872. AJA is an SBA Certified Small Disadvantaged Business.”

Monsour lists his largest expenditures in the filing period as advertising purchases from The Radio People and The Vicksburg Post.

Thompson also had purchases for advertising with local radio stations and The Post, but his largest expenditure was with Pearl-based Lamar Advertising.

He also listed a purchase with Got Print, a Burbank, Calif.-based promotional printing company.

At the end of the filing period, Monsour reported having $2,025.98 on hand, while Thompson reported having $900 on hand.

In the North Ward Alderman race, Troy Kimble, who is challenging incumbent Michael Mayfield, reported raising $8,275. Mayfield raised $2,500 during the filing period, but showed a total raised of $7,300 during the calendar year.

Kimble reported a number of contributions of $250 or more, but the largest contribution came from Dale Jennings, a developer in Vicksburg, in the amount of $1,000.

The next largest contribution for Kimble came from attorney Travis Vance in the amount of $500.

Mayfield received a $1,000 donation from Steve Golding and, like Thompson, received a $500 donation from AJA in Jackson.

The two other contributions Mayfield listed, both for $500, was from Austin Triggs, CEO of Diabetes Care Group in Nashville, Tenn., and Jackson-based M3A Architecture.

As for expenses, Mayfield listed advertising purchases, including The Post, with the largest expense coming from H&M Promotional Products in Vicksburg.

In all, Mayfield spent a total of $2,839.05 during the filing period.

Kimble, spent a total of $8,482.86 during the filing period, with the largest expense coming from advertising and marketing materials from The Post and Signs First, both of which are part of Vicksburg Newsmedia LLC.

At the end of the period, Kimble reported no funds on hand, having spent $207.86 more than he raised during the period, while Mayfield reported having $698 on hand.

As for the race for mayor, Flaggs and challenger Daryl Hollingsworth filed reports.

The other candidate in the race, Willie Robinson, did not appear to have filed a report as for the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline.

During the filing period, Flaggs reported raising $20,753.33, for a calendar year total of $107,866.09. The amount dwarfs any of the amounts raised by his challengers in the primary election in May, or that of Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth reported raising $3,670 during the calendar year, all of which came in the latest filing period.

In Flaggs’ reported contributions during the last filing period, he showed donations of $1,000 or more from seven groups or individuals.

Two $1,000 donations came from Triggs, while another came from Baton Rouge-based Sustainable Engineering.

EJES Inc. in Jackson made another $1,000 contribution, as did Owen Moss PLLC and Thomas H. & Christopher W. Espy in Jackson.

Waterview Casino contributed $1,000, as did Howard C. Waring and Martin S. Lewis, both of Vicksburg.

Hollingsworth reported contributions from four individuals, one of which was himself in the amount of $950.

The largest contribution came from Glynn Lassiter, who lists a Birmingham, Ala., address. Lassiter also owns the building as 1208 Washington St., Vicksburg, and listed that address as her home in a letter to the editor submitted to The Vicksburg Post in May.

Of the nearly $47,000 Flaggs reported having spent in the last cycle, the largest amounts appear to have gone to get out the vote efforts.

In all, Flaggs reported spending $13,770 in get out the vote efforts.

In addition to advertising and printing services with The Post, Speediprint and Signs First, all part of Vicksburg Newsmedia LLC, Flaggs also lists donations, advertising, T-shirt orders, political consulting and even $1,540 in crawfish from T-Beaux’s.

For Hollingsworth, the majority of his expenses were the $1,500 spent on billboards with Lamar Advertising and another $1,420 in advertising with The Radio People.

At the end of the cycle, Hollingsworth reported having $160 on hand, while Flaggs reported having $19,099.37 on hand.

About Tim Reeves

Tim Reeves, and his wife Stephanie, are the parents of three children, Sarah Cameron, Clayton and Fin, who all attend school in the Vicksburg Warren School District. The family are members of First Baptist Church Vicksburg. Tim is involved in a number of civic and volunteer organizations including the United Way of West Central Mississippi and serves on the City of Vicksburg's Riverfront Redevelopment Committee.

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