On her way to getting more votes, Judge Bishop spent less

Findlay Municipal Court Judge Stephanie Bishop's campaign spent less than opponent Garth Brown on her way to being elected in November. Bishop's campaign spent $15,780 in cash and used $2,750 in in-kind contributions, according to pre- and post-election reports filed this week with the Hancock County Board of Elections. Brown's campaign spent $8,890 in cash and used $20,925 in in-kind contributions, according to its pre- and post-election campaign finance reports. Bishop's victory at the polls on Nov. 2 means she will complete an unexpired term for judge, ending Dec. 31, 2023. She was appointed judge by Gov. Mike DeWine in April after Mark Miller left the Findlay bench to serve on the Ohio 3rd District Court of Appeals, Lima. Both Bishop and Brown are Republicans. Bishop's campaign received $13,044 in cash contributions. It has an outstanding $10,000 loan from Bishop. Since the Bishop campaign filed its pre-election report about two weeks before the election, top contributions were received from: Hancock County Republican Party, $1,500; Michael Hennigan and Judy Miller, $650 each; Jody Benda, Jennifer Werth and Elliott Werth, $500 each; David Blatnik, $400; Pamela Beall, $350; Richard Kirk, Christina Muryn and Roger Bishop, $300 each; Lynn Child, $250; David Devore and Paul Kramer, $200 each; Michael Kelley, $175; Thomas Lause, $150; and Linda Tuttle and Drinda Crates, $100 each. In-kind contributions, since the pre-election report, were made by Jereme Kent of One Energy, $550 worth of catering; Ohio Republican Party, $475 worth of text messages; Stephanie Bishop, candy for a parade, parade entry fee and postage, totaling $671. Expenditures, since Bishop's campaign filed its pre-election report, were made for newspaper advertising, $1,451; radio advertising, $1,202; signs, $800; food and setup, $800; postage and printing, $421; and campaign cards, $341. The Committee to Elect Garth Brown received $3,890 in cash contributions, according to its pre- and post-election campaign finance reports. Since the Brown campaign filed its pre-election report about two weeks before the election, it received top contributions from: Anonymous, $200; Jon Willard, $110; David Oman, Eric Anderson and Susan Wachter, $100 each. Since the pre-election report, Brown's campaign also received a $14,000 in-kind contribution from the Ohio Republican Party, for mailers. Garth Brown made a $1,004 in-kind contribution to the committee in forgiving the outstanding balance on a loan. The committee also made a $14,000 in-kind contribution to the Ohio Republican Party. No more specifics about that contribution were disclosed. Expenditures, since the pre-election finance report about two weeks before the election, included $3,995 in repaying a loan from Brown; $1,056 in radio advertising.