GAINESVILLE - The first campaign finance disclosure report of this election year shows that among Hall County candidates Jeff Strickland and Ashley Bell are leading when it comes the the amount of money donated to announced candidates and the amount of money being spent.
Friday midnight was the deadline for submitting reports for the period ending March 31 to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission (GGTCFC) office in Atlanta.
Of the seven candidates for sheriff whose reports were on line by 11:00 Saturday morning, Strickland was leading in money raised and spent. His report shows that between January 1 and March 31, he took in $8,236.26. Coupled with $61,890.94 previously reported, that gave Strickland total contributions to date of $70,127.20. Total expenditures to date are $38,415.98, leaving Strickland with at net balance of $31,711.22. Strickland, who retired last fall as Chief Deputy of the Hall County Sheriff's Office, was the first candidate to announce plans to run for the post Steve Cronic is giving up this year.
Jon Strickland is another candidate in the sheriff's race and his report shows contributions of $2,350 for the period ending March 31. He previously reported receiving $16,349 for a total to date of $18,699. Strickland's report shows the former state trooper and Gainesville police officer has spend $17,329.59, leaving him with cash on hand as of March 31 of $1,369.41. He also got into the race last year.
Retired Gainesville police officer John Sisk joined the race earlier this year. All of the money he has raised is from the current reporting period, $6,736.59. His expenditures have totaled $6,606.41, leaving him with cash on hand of $130.10 as of the end of last month.
Reports from other candidates in the race - Richard Blevins, Gerald Couch, Chuck Hewitt, and Rickey Tumlin - were not available Saturday morning on the GGTCFC Web site.
In the race for the Hall County Commission seat now held by Ashley Bell, the incumbent is way out front in money raised and spent. Bell's campaign finance disclosure statement shows total contributions to date of $42,896.95, with $14,199 of that raised during the three months ending March 31. Bell reports campaign expenses of $20,386.40 to date, leaving him with a balance of $22,510.55 as of the end of March. All but one of the donations Bell reports receiving between January 1 and March 31 came from individuals and/or organizations outside Hall County.
Asked Saturday afternoon about the overwhelming influx of "outside" money flowing into his campaign coffer, Republican Bell, a former Democrat, said "Since switching parties we have been fortunate to receive many unsolicited contributions from conservatives
around the state that have either heard me speak, or watched the numerous television appearances during the Presidential Primary where I served as surrogate for the Newt Gingrich for President Campaign."
Bell added "This is a critical election year up and down the ballot and as an active Republican my family and I use our spare time to support conservative causes and they in return have been gracious with their resources."
Regarding local donations, Bell said "We have been very successful in getting small dollar donations (which are not required to be itemized on disclosure reports) from inside Hall County. We had almost as many small dollar Hall county donors as we did outside larger donors."
His latest report lists $399 in contributions of less than $100 each.
Jeff Stowe entered the race for Bell's seat a few weeks ago and his report shows he has raised $2,500 with expenditures of $73.60. That leaves Stowe with a balance on hand of $2,426.20. Only one of the contributions listed on Stowe's report ca,e from outside Hall County and it was from Lumpkin County.
The next report is due June 30. Congressional candidates have until April 15 to file their latest reports.
(Please check back for updates to this story as additional information becomes available.)
Saturday
July 5th, 2025
5:08AM
