Denton mayor still facing $37,000+ campaign debt

by Chris Speight of North Texas Daily

Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs is still out almost $38,000 from his mayoral race against former mayor Perry McNeill last year. However, Burroughs stresses that this money came from his personal bank account and he does not owe anyone for the expenses.

"I had raised sufficient funds to cover the general election, but not the run-off, which I basically paid for out of my own pocket," Burroughs said.

Burroughs said that he stopped fundraising once the run-off election between he and McNeill began in May. Burroughs reported $37,700 of debt in his 2008 financial report.

"The only way you can ever get paid back by contributors from putting your own money as a candidate in a [political] race is if you carry it like it was a loan from yourself to the campaign," he said. "That's how I carried it."

A run-off occurs when two or more of the candidates get less than 50 percent of votes and can be common in elections that have more than two candidates vying for the same position, said Don Alexander, Denton County elections administrator.

Many politicians have annual fundraisers to pay back debts or to pay themselves back, Burroughs said.

"I have not had a fundraiser since the time of the run-off," Burroughs said. "The run-off is what caused this $37,000 business."

Burroughs said that his overall campaign expenses totaled about $79,000, for the general and runoff election.

Alexander said the money a person spends on a race depends on how interested they are in winning a particular election.

"The amount of money spent also depends on the size of the city or jurisdiction they're running in," he said. "When you start talking about county-wide races, the cost of the elections can get very expensive. You get down into a small town where they're running an election, the cost might get down to less than $500."

Burroughs said the money he received through fundraising went to campaign materials such as posters, buttons, shirts and information.