The three 2016 general election candidates for Tooele County Commission spent a collective $10,048 seeking a seat on the county commission, according to final campaign finance reports.
Leading the way in campaign spending was incumbent Shawn Milne, the Republican candidate who won a second term on the county commission.
Milne collected a total of $7,680 in donations. He spent $7,543 on his re-election campaign.
The donations to Milne’s campaign were all unsolicited, he said.
“I had some money saved up and was prepared to self-fund if needed,” he said. “I did not ask for donations. As the checks arrived in the mail, I deposited them without thinking a whole lot about who they came from or why.”
Milne’s largest contributor was AIS Commercial Construction, a Salt Lake City-based commercial construction company owned by Hal Hudson, an owner of Country Fan Fest, the annual country music festival at Deseret Peak Complex.
The Tooele County Republican Party gave Milne’s campaign $1,250. His campaign also received $900 from Additive Technologies, a Salt Lake City-based industrial cleaning products company. Jay Harward, a Tooele County developer, landowner, and gravel pit operator, is the registered agent for Additive Technologies, according to the Utah State Department of Commerce.
The Milne campaign received $400 from Hive Management, based in Lehi, and $400 from Beehive Homes of Lehi.
The balance of Milne’s cash donations came from individual Tooele County residents in donations that ranged from $200 to $500.
Milne also received a $1,480 gift-in-kind from BrandMakers, a distributor of promotional products based in Utah County.
Milne’s Democratic opponent, Katie Carlile, raised $2,305 in donations and spent $1,946 on her campaign.
Carlile’s largest contribution was $1,010 from the Utah State Hispanic Democratic Caucus.
The balance of Carlile’s donations ranged from $50 to $250 from individuals. Carlile’s donors included family members and friends from outside Tooele County.
The Constitution Party candidate for county commission, Jonathan Garrard, received $22 in cash donations and $200 in kind contributions.
The in-kind contributions ranged from $25 to $50 for video capture and editing, website updates, and graphic design.
Garrard spent $559 running for county commissioner.
The final vote tally in the county commission race was 12,411 for Milne, 6,461 for Carlile, and 2,496 for Garrard.
A complete list of campaign contributors and expenses for local county candidates can be found on the county clerk/auditor’s website at www.co.tooele.ut.us/clerk. Click on “Candidates” on menu on the left side of the screen and then select “Financial Disclosure Information” under the 2016 Election Information heading.