Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the total amount fundraised for the seven candidates. It has since been corrected. The Daily regrets this error.

Seven candidates running for the Ames School Board election fundraised $36,082 from individual contributions, with total campaign expenditures reaching nearly $32,000. 

Description of expenditures for the candidates included stamps, brochures, T-shirts, food for volunteers, subscriptions for campaign websites, banners, postcards and of course yard signs.  

William ‘Scott’ Dryer was the only candidate not to fundraise and instead to self-fund his campaign. Dryer said he felt independently financing his campaign would eliminate any question of partisan intervention.

“My wife and I, when we decided together that I would run, just decided that we didn’t want it to be political,” Dryer said. “We wanted it to be about kids and community and school and there is plenty of room for political races for political positions but school board is not one of those positions.”

Dryer said this is not to say campaigns that did fundraise had political ties, but he felt this would appeal greater to constituents. In total, Dryer had $1,248.24 of in-kind contributions. In-kind contributions are the contributions of a good or service other than money like donated goods.

Amy Erica Smith’s campaign spent the most expenditures and raised the most funds. In total, Smith raised $11,630 and spent $10,794.59.  Smith also had the highest number of individual contributions, totaling 171 donations. 

Smith said her high numbers of donations is a result of her name recognition from people in the community who are also engaged in the community. 

“People knew me and trusted me, knew that I was an engaged person in the community who would be in line with their own values,” Smith said. 

For a month Smith hosted meet and greet events.  She said this was an opportunity for her to talk with people to learn what issues people are concerned about.

“Anybody who was a stakeholder was engaged and had ideas, I wanted to meet with them to understand their perspective and what they saw as the issues and possibilities facing us,” Smith said. 

Smith sent out fundraising letters, and said she wanted to ensure her messages and goals were clear. Smith’s campaign had volunteers help her door-knock to increase engagement, she used social media.  

While Smith and fellow candidate Kelly Winfrey shared volunteers and have similar platforms, their campaigns have separate messages. 

“We haven’t coordinated in terms of sharing a campaign message, or running on a platform,” Smith said. “We were very clear that we didn’t want to have the same platform or to be a slate.”

As of Sunday, Smith said she has yet to be endorsed by any organizations. 

Rolf Duvick, Tom Purl and Kira Werstein collaborated on some of their campaign tactics. The trio decided it would be more efficient to share campaign signs. Werstein said this was a unique approach to combine efforts to make positive change.

“The three of us share a vision for healthy schools and how to achieve that, we thought it would be clear messaging for us to say ‘if you share our vision, the three of us are the candidates that would align with you’,” Werstein said. “So we were trying to be clear about our messaging and to be efficient with the local resources provided.”

Purl, Werstein and Duvick also all received endorsements from the political action committee, Ames Deserves Better. None of these candidates received any financial contribution from the PAC.

Werstein said she emphasizes anyone is able to endorse her and she considers anyone who has a sign or contributed to her campaign as an endorsement.

“I am an individual person,” Werstein said. “I am a mom. I am a teaching professor at Iowa State, and I am not anybody’s person that they are manipulating. I think that is important for people to know as well. 

The three of them funded campaign signs and hosted an event to engage with voters. 

“We are three separate individuals who decided to collaborate, there is nobody behind the scenes that is telling me what to do and say,” Werstein said. “My values and my priorities for this school district are my own that are coming out of my own heart and are not being told to me what to say in any way by any person.”

Winfrey raised $8,214.80 total in campaign finances and ended with 40 cents after her expenditures. Winfrey had 122 individual contributions. When fundraising, Winfrey used the Campaign Ethics Board list of donors for past candidates who have ran for office. Winfrey said outside of the door knocking she also tried to have sit down conversations with people regarding the election. 

Winfrey also used social media and online fundraising to support her campaign. Winfrey said Dr. John Paschen, the Story County Board of Health chairman endorsed her for Ames School Board, along with an endorsement from Dr. Megan Srinivas, an infectious disease physician. 

The Iowa State Daily has yet to hear back from Ames School Board Candidates Brett Becker, Tom Purl and Rolf Duvick about their campaign. 

Duvick’s campaign’s total finances amounted to $5,111.21. Purl’s campaign’s total finances were $2,880, while Becker’s campaign fundraised a total of $4,128.16.