From Mona’s desk Do the numbers mean anything? If so, what?

This is our third and final week of our Gubernatorial Forum. We hope that you, our readers, have found the answers given or, as the case may be, answers not given, enlightening.

Check out the local candidates forum on pages A5 and B5. In retrospect, maybe we asked too many questions in each group, however, there is plenty of information or, again, lack of information, to help you determine who gets your vote in May.

Now, if you look over the local candidates and see that someone didn’t respond, before you shoot off a scathing email or phone call to us about how we didn’t reach out to everyone, I assure you we did. In fairness, we used the same methods for candidates in the same group. No one candidate received any extra or less attention than his or her opponents.

Slightly different topic (but still on campaigns!), here’s something to ponder. Lincoln TV 10/11 (KOLN) reports that nearly $20 million dollars has either been donated or self funded for the candidates who are considered the top three contenders for the Republican gubernatorial primary. I’m going to use figures provided by the newscast (confirmed at www.1011now.com) and obtainable from the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (NADC), https://nadc-e.nebraska. gov/PublicMaster.master.

Candidate Charles Herbster’s campaign has received $9,175,498 with around $8.9 million (about 96 percent) being from his own bank account. So far, in 2022, he has received only $65,000 in donations from individuals and organizations with two of those each being $5,000.

Candidate Jim Pillen’s campaign has received $7,690,422 with $1,000,000 of that (13 percent) being his own money. He has received at least two $100,000 contributions that I can find in a quick glance, most notably one from current Governor Pete Ricketts and the other from Michael Cassling of Omaha.

Candidate Brett Lindstrom’s campaign has received just over $2 million in contributions with none of it being his own money. He has received $1 million from Steve Duggar of Omaha.

Per the latest filings, Pillen has $4.1 million on hand, Lindstrom $1.4 million and Hebster $543,000.

So ... do those numbers mean anything? Should they?

Should it mean anything to voters when a candidate self-funds the majority of his/her own campaign, especially at this level? Does it mean the candidate is unable to raise public donations or does it mean the candidate is steering clear of potential influences of big donors?

What about the candidate who doesn’t toss any of his/her own money into the ring? Does it mean that money isn’t needed? What if at least half of the donated money comes from a single donor?

I’ve long said we need campaign finance reform. I’m also beginning to think that the everyday voter needs basic training on how to access and read campaign finance documents. After 15 minutes of searching the NADC website, I gave in and called. I must not have been the first person to ask where to find specific info because without hesitation, the very helpful person on the other end of the line led me through about a dozen “Click this” and “Select that” to get to the info I sought. So yes, I have the printouts but at the same time, am very grateful to have the figures from 10/11 as backup.

In closing, as I continue to mull over the figures, here’s a twist I’d like to see added to campaign finance reform. For every dollar spent on attack ads, an equal dollar has to go to a cause the candidate proposes to support most wholeheartedly. Think of the dollars that could be poured into education, food pantries, housing assistance and other causes. In the midst of all the swirling negativity, then truly something good could grow.