Neff's finance report shows he's not raising money for Senate run
Remaining candidates have until Friday to file lastest campaign finance information.
By TOM MURSE
Lancaster
Updated Oct 03, 2008 11:06
State Senate candidate Bill Neff is the first candidate in the four-way 13th district race to make public his latest campaign finance report.
He did so this morning.
His take?
Zip.
"I'm not raising anything," Neff said. "I'm very earnest about that. I don't think people should be asking for handouts."
Neff isn't raising money.
But he is spending it.
Between March 4 and April 7, Neff bought $4,504.98 worth of advertising — in local newspapers and on the radio — and $75 in fuel for his campaign truck. He also spent $4 on notary fees, for a grand total of 4,583.98.
"I'm not out there running smear campaigns," he said today. "I think people see right through that. I'm just trying to set an example, to be prudent with funding. This is definitely an experiment for myself and voters at large. Can it be accomplished? Can it be done?
"I'm personally sick and tired of seeing all the campaign signs, and I'm running for office," he said.
Neff, who runs a Lancaster lock business and is an entrepreneur, is one of four Republicans seeking retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's seat. The others seeking the GOP nomination in the April 22 primary are Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald, West Lampeter Township Supervisor Lloyd Smucker, and former county Commissioner Paul Thibault.
The winner faces Democrat Jose Urdaneta, a city businessman, in the fall.
As of the New Era's deadline today, no other candidate had filed his report or provided a copy to the newspaper.
The second Friday pre-primary finance reports must be postmarked by 5 p.m. Friday. They include candidate fundraising and spending since the beginning of the year.
Neff filed a March report detailing his fundraising and spending over the first months of the year. It showed he raised $175, including $100 from himself and wife, Barbara.
Neff spent $984.35 of his own cash on Web domains, campaign buttons, voter lists, newspaper ads and truck lettering between the first of the year and early March.
Neff, who is campaigning partly on campaign-finance reform, has said he does not intend to raise or spend a lot of cash — about $5,000 — trying to get the nomination.
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