April 15th is the deadline for all candidates to file their contribution and expenditure reports with the Secretary of State. These filings are of extreme interest because it helps us see the inner workings of their campaign. Even though the election season is still early, we can get a good feel for a candidate’s chances.

This article is the first in a series that examines the first primary filings for the West Virginia Senate.

All of this information must be considered with past elections in mind. In 2002 Senator Steve Harrison (R-Kanawha) handily defeated incumbent Democrat Senator Mitchell and only spent $38,000 dollars in contrast to Mitchell’s $96,000 dollars. Senators Barnes and Weeks were also outspent and they won regardless.

Senate District 1: Senator Edwin Bowman (D)

vs. George Village, III (R)

Not only it would require an uber-candidate to defeat Bowman in his decidedly Democratic district, one would need significant monetary backing as well. Unfortunately, Village has raised less than $500 dollars compared to Bowman’s $104,467.01 dollars.

Lawyers were the largest constituency group to contribute to Bowman with well over $15,000 dollars in donations. The second largest contributors were, oddly enough, Pharmacists.

The most interesting set of contributions came from four people, all of which had the same last name and mailing address. One is a lawyer, one a homemaker, and the other two are college students. The interesting thing is that they each gave $1,000 dollars. How many college students do you know have $1,000 dollars to blow on a candidate or would even want to? With the father as the only self-described breadwinner, one has to wonder if he is giving through the student’s names. If so, that is blatantly illegal.

While the law regards a husband and wife’s contributions as separate even though it may come from the same checking account, a father may not channel his money through his children:

§3-8-5h: “No contribution may be made, directly or indirectly, in a fictitious name, anonymously or by one person through an agent, relative or other person so as to conceal the identity of the source of the contribution or in any other manner so as to effect concealment of the contributor’s identity.”

There is no way to tell if this is illegal or legal funds, but Senator Bowman should independently review these contributions and consider returning the $2,000 dollars. He is well in the lead and does not need to risk tarnishing his reelection with the typical antics of West Virginia’s democratic candidates. Ask Mollohan: it’s not fun.

It will be a great day when Senator Bowman ceases to be a Senator and will have to retire to his West Virginia home to endure the policies heralded by his liberal philosophy. Until then, we can only dream. George Village, III will not be turning our dreams into reality with less than $500 in his war chest, or more appropriately termed, war thimble.

Here’s to $100,000 dollars going his way.

Senate District 2: Senator Larry Edgell (D) vs. Wayne Weber (R)

Because neither man has an opponent in the primary, they have raised next to nothing. In fact, as far as I can tell, they have literally raised nothing! Weber has less than $500, so he qualified for a waiver to defer reporting and Edgell has $900 left over from last time.

I do not think Edgell knows the fight he is getting into. Edgell has not had a strong opponent in either of his election bids and is unused to running a tough race, he is one of the quiet legislators that votes along party lines whether it makes sense or not, and his district is gradually getting more conservative.

Edgell is part of the block of Democratic Senators who are the “bullet-sponges” for the Democratic leadership. Even though they will never have a committee leadership position, they loyally vote the Democratic line every time. I doubt they would say no if the Dems were for killing innocent children. Wait, they already are for that.

I know I do not live in Edgell’s district, but for the life of me, I cannot recall a single cause he has advocated. I just did a little research. Among other things, he co-sponsored a bill creating a shampoo assistant specialty license and he sponsored a bill regulating exotic animals. He would have created the “Exotic Animal Regulation Board and Technical Advisory Committee” as well as created additional fees for goodness-knows-who and established criminal penalties. The bill died and now West Virginians all over this state are in danger of exotic animals gone wild.

Actually, the only West Virginian at risk is Edgell who has an elephant breathing down his neck (bad pun I realize, but I couldn’t resist). Weber is preparing for a tough fight and will give it all he has. He has a quiet, confident personality that disarms you immediately and he has the backing of key Republicans. Not only that, he is in tune with the people of West Virginia and is for tax cuts, less government and generally being less of the nuisance it has been for the last 70 years.

I sincerely believe Edgell will have extra vacation time when the 2007 regular session rolls around — maybe he will go on a safari. Weber will barely win this one by no more than 5% of the vote.