photo by: Contributed

Patrick Kelly and Milton Scott

If money is any indicator — which is a mixed proposition in local political races — a pair of challengers for the Douglas County Commission are giving a pair of incumbents a race as voters head to the polls Tuesday.

Challenger Milton Scott actually was the top fundraiser among the six candidates vying for three seats on the Douglas County Commission. Scott is squaring off in the Democratic primary against incumbent Patrick Kelly for the District No. 1 seat on the commission. Scott, who works as a coordinator in Douglas County’s Criminal Justice Services department, has a more than $9,000 lead in campaign contributions over Kelly.

That’s the biggest fundraising gap among any of the County Commission candidates seeking election this season. The Journal-World historically reports on campaign contribution totals in local elections so voters have information about who is funding campaigns, and also as a sense of the amount of support candidates are receiving in the community.

However, campaign contributions aren’t always a reliable gauge of community support, as there have been several instances where incumbents have won elections despite being out-raised by challengers. Kelly, a retired administrator with Lawrence Public Schools, is the longest-serving candidate in the field, as he is seeking his third term on the County Commission.

While incumbents with name recognition have overcome low fundraising totals, the inverse has not often been true — challengers who raise little money don’t have a good history of faring well in elections.

photo by: Contributed

Gene Dorsey (left) and Ethan Spurling (right).

While Scott has a sizable fundraising lead over Kelly, the other challenger in the County Commission primary is trailing his incumbent opponent, but by a much smaller amount. Incumbent Commissioner Gene Dorsey out-raised challenger Ethan Spurling, but did so by less than $2,000. Dorsey — a retired financial controller — and Spurling — a policy and government relations director for a Lawrence nonprofit — are facing off in the Democratic primary for District 4 on the County Commission.

The campaign finance reports, which are required by state law, cover campaign contributions and expenditures for the period from Jan. 1 through July 23. The Douglas County Clerk’s Office collects the reports and released them online on Monday.

Here’s a look at specific totals for the contested County Commission races on Tuesday’s ballot:

District 1

• Scott: $12,608 in contributions; $10,691 in expenses

• Kelly: $3,285 in contributions; $4,037 in expenses

• Special interest money: Neither candidate reported receiving contributions from political action committees, unions or other advocacy organizations.

• Notes: Kelly started this campaign cycle with approximately $1,500 in his campaign account from past campaigns, which allowed him to have expenditures greater than his contributions. Of the $12,608 in contributions to Scott’s campaign account, $1,500 came from Scott himself.

• District information: District No. 1 is entirely within the Lawrence city limits, covering multiple areas west of Iowa Street.

District 4

• Dorsey: $7,606 in contributions; $8,761 in expenditures

• Spurling: $5,970 in contributions; $4,668 in expenditures

• Special interest money: Dorsey reported a $500 contribution from the Political Action Committee supported by the local firefighters union. Spurling reported contributions from a Political Action Committee supported by the Kansas Young Democrats, and from a PAC supported by Teamsters Local 696.

• Notes: Dorsey started this campaign cycle with about $1,800 in funds from past campaigns, which allowed him to have expenditures greater than his contributions.

• District information: District 4 includes parts of southeast Lawrence, all of Eudora and the rural area surrounding Eudora.

The third seat up for election on the County Commission — District 5, which includes parts of southern Lawrence and Baldwin City — isn’t being actively contested during the primary election. Incumbent Erica Anderson is facing no opposition in the Democratic primary, but is set to face Libertarian Kirsten Kuhn in the November general election. Anderson, however, reported raising $4,110 in the most recent reporting period.

There are a couple of Kansas House of Representatives seats that are being contested in the primary in Lawrence. Filings related to those races include:

• In District 10, which includes much of southeast Lawrence, incumbent Rep. Suzanne Wikle is facing T.J. Campsey in the Democratic primary. Wikle reported contributions of $27,040 during the period. Campsey reported contributions of $28,064 during the period. Campsey’s report showed that about $6,800 of his contributions came from Campsey himself.

• In District 42, which includes northern Eudora and parts of far eastern Lawrence, incumbent Lance Neelly is facing a challenge in the Republican primary from Mike Stieben. Reports show challenger Stieben raised $26,305 to incumbent Neelly’s $22,199. The reports also show that of Stieben’s approximately $26,000 in contributions, $18,000 of the contributions came from Stieben himself.

Full campaign finance reports — listing each donor — are available for viewing online. For County Commission races, go to the Douglas County Clerk’s elections page at dgcoks.gov/county-clerk/voting-and-elections/current-candidates and click on the 2026 candidates section, and then click on the candidate’s name to see a list of available reports.

For state-level races, go to the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission’s website at kpdc.kansas.gov/campaign-finance.