Reporter's note: This report has been updated to reflect the latest campaign finance reports from the Missouri Ethics Commission.
Those who say the Springfield Board of Education election is getting expensive have new numbers that make their case.
Candidates and political action committees involved in this year’s school board race raised $660,855.49 for the April 2 election. Challenger Susan Provance and incumbents Danielle Kincaid and Maryam Mohammadkhani won three-year seats to the board, defeating incumbent Scott Crise and challengers Landon McCarter, Kyler Sherman-Wilkins and Chad Rollins.
School board positions are unpaid, as members serve only as volunteers.
The candidates, and PACs that worked to elect them, have filed quarterly reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission that reveal last-minute gifts and spends in the week before the election. And final fundraising reports show a handful of late donations and payments.
Candidates raise more than $465,000
According to final fundraising reports, the seven candidates alone raised $468,266.73 and spent $412,369.29.
Those totals could increase marginally — the candidates must file one more report 30 days after the election. The deadline is May 2, but some of the candidates have already filed their 30-day-after reports.
Mohammadkhani raised the most, with $103,764.26, while Sherman-Wilkins raised the least at $30,288.03. The average amount between the seven candidates was $66,895.25.
| CANDIDATE (in ballot order) | AMOUNT RAISED | AMOUNT SPENT |
| Danielle Kincaid | $74,714.42 | $$63,592.64 |
| Landon McCarter | $67,795.00 | $60,485.40 |
| Susan Provance | $70,503.88 | $57,380.95 |
| Scott Crise | $76,534.25 | $68,284.64 |
| Kyler Sherman-Wilkins | $30,288.03 | $22,452.91 |
| Chad Rollins | $44,666.89 | $38,994.96 |
| Maryam Mohammadkhani | $103,764.26 | $101,177.79 |
| TOTAL | $468,266.73 | $412,369.29 |
The campaign was generally considered “clean,” with none of the candidates targeting each other in negative ads.
Candidates are required to file a fundraising report 30 days after an election — that report is the final one tied to a specific election cycle, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission. Candidates can also terminate their fundraising committees, but if they opt to leave them running, they must continue to file quarterly reports.
Here are some details from the latest reports:
Kincaid received $3,839.48 and spent $129.12 in the eight days before the election, according to her quarterly report, with 19 people giving cash donations ranging from $25 to $500.
According to a 30-day-after report filed on April 10 and an amended report filed on May 2, she received three more cash contributions worth $131.08 and paid $6,647.09 in expenses, including $4,053.54 to Palmisano Marketing Communications for yard and large signs, $1,586.55 to Strong Ozarks for campaign consulting and $1,000 to Victory Enterprises for marketing. She also repaid a $5,000 loan to her personal funds.
For the entire election, Kincaid raised a total of $74,714.42 and spent $63,592.64. She has $2,309.09 on hand and no debt.
McCarter received $10,950 and spent $25,755.74 in the eight days before the election, according to his quarterly report.
His donations include $5,000 from Curtis Jared, owner of Jared Enterprises; $3,000 from Clark Healthcare, of Springfield; and $1,000 from Kristi Fulnecky, a former Springfield City Council member who filed a lawsuit against Springfield Public Schools in 2020 over COVID-19 schooling plans.
Expenses include $25,000 paid to Ozark Mailing Service for campaign mailers.
McCarter terminated the committee according to a report filed on April 23. According to that report, he received a $2,000 donation from Jeff Layman, a managing director with Wells Fargo, on April 2. Expenses in that report include $15,138.50 to KYTV for advertising, $1,112.52 to Facebook for advertising and $2,000 to Reel Talent for videography.
For the entire election, McCarter raised $67,795, spent $60,485.40 and donated $4,000 for the election cycle. The terminated committee reported nothing on hand and no debt.
Provance received $1,113.03 and spent $811.16 in the eight days before election day, according to her quarterly report. Six people gave cash donations ranging from $26.35 to $521.15.
Among her expenses before the election was $800 paid to Victory Enterprises for campaign advertising.
According to a 30-day-after-election report filed on April 10 and an amended report filed on May 2, she received $958.65 in donations before and after the election. She also reported $5,588.50 in expenses, including an additional $4,240 to Victory Enterprises, and a total of $762.35 to three people for a watch party.
For the entire election, Provance raised $70,503.88 and spent $57,380.95 for her run. She has $1,259.73 on hand and no debt.
Sherman-Wilkins received $129.74 and spent $1,986.60 in the eight days before election day, according to his quarterly report. All of the donations came from people giving $100 or less.
Expenses include $550 to Google for advertising, $542.50 to Queen City Strategic Political Consulting and $300 to Facebook for advertising.
According to a 30-day-after report filed on May 2, he reported total payments of $3,500 to DVS Strategies for political consulting.
For the entire election, Sherman-Wilkins raised $30,288.03 and spent $22,452.91. He has $1,724.12 on hand and no debt.
Crise received $1,000 and spent $5,715.49 in the days before the election, according to his quarterly report.
He received three cash donations ranging from $200 to $500, and paid $5,715.49 to Victory Enterprises.
An amended quarterly report filed on May 2 includes a $5,000 loan to the committee made from personal funds. According to his 30-day-after report filed on May 2, he made a payment of $1,857.57 to Victory Enterprises.
For the entire election, Crise raised $76,534.25 and spent $68,284.64. He reported $3,406.00 on hand and $19,000.67 in debt.
Rollins received $1,000 and spent $23,188.75 in the eight days before the election, according to a quarterly report. The $1,000 was a cash donation from Larry Morris, of Springfield.
Expenses include $22,030.30 to KYTV and a total of $1,158.45 to Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, for advertising.
Rollins terminated the committee in a report filed on April 30. In the termination report, he reported a $382.50 refund from KYTV, as well as expenses of $499.96 to Disney Advertising
For the entire election, Rollins raised $44,666.89 and spent $38,994.96. The committee was closed with no money on hand and no debt. A surplus of $364.31 was donated to Brace for Impact, a St. Louis charity that Rollins works with.
Mohammadkhani raised $25,202.20 and spent $21,347.96 in the eight days before the election, according to her quarterly report.
The bulk of her donations came from her own funds: She donated $25,000 in cash to her committee.
Her expenses include $16,702.14 to Ozark Mailing Service for campaign mailers, as well as $2,650 to Summit Media and $1,983.90 to iHeartMedia for advertisements.
Mohammadkhani also filed a 30-day-after-election report on April 10 and an amended 30-day-after report on May 2. According to those reports, she reported $3,173.29 in contributions and $11,500 in expenses.
She made a donation of $1,970.79 from her personal funds to her fundraising committee, and also reported three other cash donations ranging from $120 to $500, according to those reports. She also reported a refund of $382.50 from KYTV.
Her expenses in that report include $10,000 to Thunderburst Media for advertising and $1,500 to Stephanie Dejeu Design Co. for digital management.
For the entire election, Mohammadkhani raised $103,764.26 and spent $101,177.79. She has $$2,563.47 on hand and $10,000 in debt.
Political action committees also busy
The race also drew interest from political action committees that made endorsements and backed those candidates financially.
United Springfield, which endorsed Kincaid, Provance and Crise, raised $41,025 and spent $49,545.71 and made $60,000 in contributions in the days before the election, according to its quarterly report.
The donations listed in the report appear to be duplicates of donations that appeared in previous reports during the election cycle. The committee received only a $100 cash donation in the days before the election.
Expenses and contributions in the quarterly report also list duplicates mentioned in previous reports, including a total of $48,500 to Victory Enterprises for polling, video production, digital advertising and campaign consulting. It also gave contributions of $20,000 each to its endorsed candidates.
According to the quarterly report, it raised $134,392, spent $52,844.90 and contributed $60,000 for the school board race. It has $17,522.10 on hand and no debt.
Formed in 2023, the nonpartisan committee advocates for keeping partisan politics away from nonpartisan offices, and seeks unity between all parties in those offices.
Back on Track America PAC, which endorsed McCarter, Rollins and Mohammadkhani, reported $13,650 in donations and $15,272.99 in expenses in the days before the election, according to reports it filed.
In a 24-hour expenditure report it reported purchases of $10,000 to Thunderburst Media for digital marketing and $5,177.99 to Ozark Mailing Service. These bills were also listed as direct expenditures of $5,059.33 each to the three endorsed candidates.
In its quarterly report, it reported cash donations of $12,000 from Rick Britton, president of Digital Monitoring Products Inc. and $1,500 from 417 PAC, a committee formed in 2019. A loan of $10,000 to Dianne and Norm Ely, was repaid on March 31.
According to its quarterly report, it raised $52,768 and spent $37,828.58 for the school board race. It has $5,866.88 on hand and no debt.
Formed in 2021, the conservative committee advocates limited government and protection of religious freedom. It was involved in the previous two school board races, backing Kelly Byrne and Steve Makoski in 2022 and McCarter and Rollins in 2023.
In that 2023 race, the committee financed negative mailers targeting Shurita Thomas-Tate and Judy Brunner, each of whom won that year. This year the committee didn't produce any negative ads. It worked with Christians United for Political Action to make its endorsements.
Missouri NEA, according to its quarterly report, did not appear to make any donations or expenses directly related to the school board race. It is the fundraising committee for the Springfield NEA, the teachers’ union for collective bargaining. The Springfield NEA endorsed McCarter, Sherman-Wilkins and Mohammadkhani.
Teamsters Local No. 245, which represents SPS bus drivers and other workers, endorsed McCarter, Provance and Sherman-Wilkins, and gave $500 to each in the days before the election, according to a quarterly report.
Vote 417, which endorsed Kincaid, Provance and Crise, filed a report of limited activity for its quarterly requirement. But in the week before the election, the committee filed six 24-hour reports of donations and expenses to the state.
The committee reported an in-kind donation of $1,933.76 from Highlander Political Strategies. It also reported a total of $2.004.04 in payments to ABM Strategies for advertising.
According to its final 24-hour report, the committee raised $5,428.76 and spent $3,869.04 for the school board race. It has $1.96 on hand and no debt.
Formed in 2021, the committee campaigns for increased voter access, and advocates for public education and a free press.
