One of the storylines of this election year is that Democratic candidates were so outspent, so battered and bruised that they were unable to really shake free of it.
Nancy Lusk, Democrat from Johnson County (Kansas City area) definitely understands that feeling. High on the Koch target list, Lusk faced what could best be called a blizzard of mail
37 Pieces of mail by counts of those in her state house district. Enough to fill a table. All votes contending that Nancy Lusk simply had to go, and solely because she was a Democrat in a district they though they might win.
Lusk's district, you see, doesn't have huge turnout numbers to really make this seeming spend make sense.
Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/...
Kansas House of Representatives 022
Precincts Reporting: 16 of 16
Candidate Votes %
D-Nancy Lusk 3,017 52%
R-Mike Jones 2,784 48%
37 Mail pieces - and let's say these were mid-universe runs (a mail piece cost of around $3,000 per). For this race - as a guesstimate, we're talking up to $111,000 spent. To receive 2,784 votes.
That's right. Even before we get to signs, canvass costs, anything else - the Republicans spent guesstimate $40 PER VOTE in an attempt to defeat Nancy Lusk. For a job that pays $18,500 per year.
While there isn't always good news out of these elections, I'm always glad to see a Democrat who runs on the values force Republicans to spend a pile of money and lose. How? Because Nancy Lusk was a candidate that too many of the people in the district already knew, from her direct interaction with them and long history of involvement with local organizations.
Again, mail may be nice, and big money spends are good.. but personally knowing a candidate? It trumps them all.