It’s easy to see who got the biggest bang out of his campaign spending – former Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton.
He spent 10 cents – one thin dime – for each of 18,990 votes he received in the recent mayor’s election.
The candidate who spent the most for each vote she received was Memphis/Shelby County School District board member Michelle McKissack – $92.85.
Overall, candidates on average spent $19.91 for the 88,383 votes cast in the mayor’s race. The 88,383 votes amount to a turnout of 23.7% of registered voters.
As for the winner, Downtown Memphis Commission President Paul Young was elected mayor with 24,408 votes, or 27.62% of the total vote. He becomes the mayor with the lowest vote total of any one since city government was restructured in 1968. He was elected by 7% of the registered voters in Memphis.
As for how much candidates paid for each vote (based on September 28 campaign finance reports):
$92.85 – Michelle McKissack
$79.65 – J. W. Gibson
$29.79 – Floyd Bonner
$28.35 – Paul Young
$15.83 – Van Turner
$0.10 – Willie W. Herenton
A clear sign regarding turnout occured yesterday when WMC noted in their election coverage updates that a location at Trinity (Road?) saw a “rush” as 30 voters showed up over a 45 minute span. Not sure if it was meant to be facetious or not.