“Actions speak louder than words,” is a commonly held belief, and even more deeply relied upon when it comes to politicians. And nothing speaks more loudly about a politician’s motives than who they accept campaign contributions from.

This makes it difficult for Hoosier voters to be informed when early voting started on October 8th, but campaign finance reports were not due until October 18th. Thankfully, the Vigo County Clerk’s office has posted those reports just days after the deadline and two very short weeks before the election.

Republican incumbent Mike Morris and Democratic challenger Tony Kassissieh are running for the district 3 seat, while Republican incumbent Chris Switzer and Democratic challenger Courtney Weger compete for district 2. 

Mike Morris had $21,904.29 cash on hand at the beginning of the period, and took in the most contributions from April to October, with receipts totaling $31,989.98. The majority of those donations came through the commissioners golf outing which was split equally among the three current commissioners Morris, Switzer and Mark Clinkenbeard. 

The largest donation from the golf outing was $6,000 from Milestone Contractors LLC, which after being split three ways resulted in $2,000 contributions to Morris, Switzer, and Clinkenbeard. According to Milestone’s website they are a statewide asphalt and concrete conglomerate based in Indianapolis. Their trucks can be seen doing work throughout Vigo County.

The next largest contributor was Hannum, Wagle, and Cline Engineering, Inc. with a $5,000 contribution resulting in $1,666.66 to Morris, Switzer, and Clinkenbeard. HWC Engineering has done work throughout the state, including wastewater, stormwater, and transportation design for Terre Haute and Muncie. 

Kroger, Gardis, and Regas, LLP gave the third largest donation totaling $1,500 of which Morris and Switzer received $500 a piece. Kroger, Gardis, and Regas is a law firm specializing in commercial, real estate, and municipal law, and has been contracted to work for the Vigo County Capital Improvement Board of which Switzer is the president.

The rest of the receipts consisted primarily of donations between $300 and $750 from local businesses and construction companies. A few gifts were made from other businesses in Indianapolis and throughout the state, including a $600 donation from Wabash Valley Resources.  

Due to the majority of the receipts coming through the commissioners golf outing, Morris and Switzer have nearly identical campaign finance reports except for a $13,000 personal contribution Mike made to his own campaign. 

Morris and Switzer also had similar expenses, most notably large fees paid to Sway Marketing. Between April and October Morris paid the company $40,000 and Switzer paid the company $32,000 during the same time period, with an additional $17,000 payment made prior to this reporting period. 

These payments are notable partly because of the quantity, $89,000 to one marketing company, and because Mayor Brandon Sakbun paid a similar amount ($86,900) to the same company during his campaign.

Switzer had $19,632.48 cash on hand in April, and took in the next highest amount of donations with receipts totaling $19,989.98 for the period. After expenses totaling $41,259.89 he ended the period with $2,780.87 cash on hand. 

Tony Kassissieh took in $5,500, with his highest contributions being $1,000 from the Ironworkers local 22, $500 from IBEW local 725, and the $500 from the Southern Indiana Labor Federation. Kassissieh’s largest expenses went to City Press and totaled $3,587.14.

Courtney Weger had $450 in receipts, with his largest donor being Roland Kohr, who gave $250 and his largest expense for the period was $347.75 at Print It Plus.

To learn more about each of the candidates you can watch the Vigo County League of Women Voters 2024 Candidate Forum here.