More than $300,000 spent in Columbia mayoral election
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -
Candidates for Columbia mayor spent more than $300,000 in April's election, according to final finance report numbers filed last week.
Mayor Barbara Buffaloe, Blair Murphy and Tanya Heath combined to spend $324,556.78 in the race to become the head of the Columbia City Council on April 7. Murphy led the way in this spending, doling out $260,381.84, or 80 percent of the money spent. Buffaloe spent $57,031.40 and Heath spent $7,143.54.
The total is about double what's been spent in previous mayoral elections. Buffaloe, Heath, Randy Minchew and David Seamon spent $164,563.34 in 2022's election. Brian Treece and Chris Kelly spent $169,717.92 in the 2019 contest.
Murphy made headlines in the April election with several high-dollar and high-profile donors. He raised $262,709 for the race, more than triple what Buffaloe raised. Buffaloe beat Murphy by more than 3,000 votes for mayor.
Murphy reported having just $383 on hand at the close of the reporting period, 30 days after the municipal election. He ended the reporting period with $4,790 in debt from "sign printing" performed by political consulting group Palm Strategic. He paid Palm Strategic more than $125,000 for other work on his campaign. After paying off debts, he will either have to donate that money to a nonprofit or transfer it to another campaign committee or political party.
Buffaloe raised slightly less, but spent slightly more, in 2025 than she did in her first run for office. She ended the campaign with $10,710 on hand. She may hold on to that money if she chooses to run for a third term in office. She closed the reporting period with $5,000 in debt from a loan she gave the campaign in November 2024.
Heath reported $679 on hand after paying off campaign expenses. She said she used the remaining money to pay back part of the $2,200 she loaned her campaign. Heath said she would simply "absorb" the rest of the money owed herself.
In the Fourth Ward city council race, incumbent winner Nick Foster ended his campaign with $584 on hand. He spent $11,075 in total for the race. Challenger Ron Graves spent $20,817 on the election. Graves's close-out report shows he loaned himself $4,000 to pay off debts to campaign vendors. He donated the remaining money in his campaign account, with $1,375 going to Daniel Boone Little League and $3,000 to the Pacific Reef and People Initiative.
