If Carol Wood becomes the next mayor of Lansing, she is going to get major value out of each dollar she has raised.
The councilwoman and challenger to Mayor Virg Bernero reached Oct. 23 (11 days to the election) having raised less than $50,000. In 2005, Bernero won the office when about 21,000 people voted. If Wood won 50 percent plus 1 vote in a similar election (10,501), she would have raised about $4 for each vote.
By contrast, Bernero had raised about $280,000 by the start of September. He would be paying $25 a vote to win this hypothetical squeaker. Actually, he would be paying even more, since I’m sure he’s raised more money, but he failed to meet last Friday’s deadline to file a report.
Wood’s latest report shows the mayoral race is a truly regional contest.
Bernero has raised plenty of money from outside Lansing environs. But of the $9,107 in cash that Wood raised in the last month, $6,255 came from people who live outside Lansing — according to my rough math and the addresses provided on her reports. That’s $2 out of every $3 raised this time.
If Wood is going to carry the night Nov. 3, she will need her grass-roots supporters to do a better job at the ballot box than they’ve done in materially supporting her campaign so far.
