David Reeser spent $1,525.27 in his bid for the Rexburg City Council, the most of any Rexburg candidate, according to Idaho’s campaign finance database for 2023.
Eric Erickson, who won a spot on the Rexburg City Council along with Reeser, spent the second-most at $1,396.47. Rob Woodall spent the third-most at $1,377.48 but did not win a seat.
Mayor Jerry Merrill spent $570 and was the fourth and final candidate to submit official campaign finance information with the state.
A bar chart comparing campaign spending for all the candidates, with successful campaigns in red. Photo credit: Spencer Driggs
Only candidates who spend over $500 are required to submit detailed expense reports. However, Mike Glasscock and Bryan Thackeray were willing to share their estimated expenses with Scroll.
The other candidates — Bryanna Johnson, Nathan Martin and Luke Evans — did not respond or did not have an estimate to share.
Of the $5,699.50 spent across all candidates, the majority went toward physical media like yard signs, newspaper ads and flyers. Less than $1,000 went toward online advertising and website design.
All of the candidates funded their races from personal funds or family members, a sharp contrast to the 2021 city council race. That election race saw donations from 26 unique donors, putting far more money in the pockets of candidates, about 70% more than 2023, according to Idaho’s contribution database.
Rexburg election candidates had far more money in 2021 than they did in 2023. Photo credit: Spencer Driggs
Each candidate took a different approach to advertising their campaign.
Mayor Jerry Merrill spent all his funds on advertisements in the Rexburg Standard Journal, while Woodall spent all his money on yard signs. Reeser, Erickson and Glasscock took a more balanced approach, although Reeser was the only candidate to spend money on Facebook ads.
A visual breakdown of each candidate's spending strategy. The larger the inner circle, the more money that candidate spent in that area. Photo credit: Spencer Driggs
Financial information doesn’t capture all the work of a campaign. For example, Woodall didn’t spend any campaign funds on a website, but he still made one. In addition, Merrill and Johnson had posters and supplies left over from their 2019 election, which saved on costs.
View the full data here.
