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Hernando Today

Candidate Press Is On

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By TONY MARRERO

Published: July 10, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - 'Tis the season for this scenario:

John Q. Public checks his mail and finds a card in his mailbox from a candidate asking for his vote.

As he drives to Beacon Theatres in Brooksville to catch a matinee, he sees candidate names on the backs of bumpers and plastered on signs sprouting up along the roadway like mushrooms after a rainstorm. There's even a candidate face looking down on a billboard just across from the theater.

Public nestles into a seat at the Beacon Theatres in Brooksville, popcorn and soda in hand, and before the coming attractions roll, up pop the faces of a couple more candidates.

It's difficult not to know we're in the midst of an election year. Candidates have opened their campaign war chests, however large or small, to pay for ways to get their names out there.

The political sign is the time-honored way to do it. A strategically placed sign at a busy intersection has the potential to reach hundreds of voters each day. Candidates have to be careful where they put the placards, however, lest they be plucked up by county code enforcement. (See related story.)

Billy Healis is a Brooksville resident and one of three Republicans vying to face off against Democratic incumbent County Commissioner Chris Kingsley for the District 5 seat. The other two Republicans are James Adkins of Brooksville and Michael Robinson of Spring Hill. There are no other Democrats in the race.

Healis said he has spent some $2,000 on smaller signs and another $600 on larger, 2-foot-by-4-foot signs. He said he is sticking the signs mostly on the property of people who want to help get him elected.

"I just think it sends more of a message when you have your signs on the private property of your supporters," Healis said.

He said "the bulk" of his campaign money will be spent on a batch of 25,000 direct mail pieces. Healis is targeting Republicans who have voted in the last two primaries and also party members who recently registered in Hernando County.

John Druzbick is just starting to put out his signs. His face, however, has been plastered on a billboard near one of the county's busiest intersections for more than a month. Druzbick is one of three Republicans hoping to unseat Democratic incumbent Diane Rowden. The other two Republicans are Wayne Dukes of Hernando Beach and Charles Gaskin of Brooksville.

Druzbick said his campaign paid $650 for the vinyl ad on the billboard, located on the south side of State Road 50 west of Mariner Boulevard. The use of the space is an in-kind donation from Barry Brewer and family, who'd used it to advertise their funeral home, Druzbick said. It would have cost $495 a month, he said.

"If you're really looking at location, look at the traffic that goes by there every day," said Druzbick, who also is getting in-kind services for a Web site.

If the way to score points with voters is quenching their thirst, Rowden might have an advantage. She said she spent about $900 on about 1,800 bottles of water with her name and face on the side, an idea she got from a plumbing company during a hurricane expo.

Her new Smart Car would probably be an attention getter even without her name emblazoned in giant letters across the sides. She said she ordered the $17,000 car back in January with plans to use it as her daily driver. But she ordered a white one knowing the eight-foot-long, five-foot-high car would also bear a campaign slogan: Be Smart, Diane Rowden for County Commission.

She picked up the car up two weeks ago and said it's definitely a conversation starter.

"And my campaign signs fit in the back," she added.

Kingsley and Rowden have purchased display ads that run before each showing at Beacon Theatres. The ads run in all 10 of the theaters, and the price goes up closer to show time as audiences file in.

Kingsley bought ads for his last election and said he got "good results." This time around he has two slots, at about 13 minutes and five minutes, before each movie. He said he paid about $2,100.

"It's just a good way to get exposure," Kingsley said.

Gus Guadagnino, a no-party candidate for Hernando County Supervisor of Elections, says he'll pass on the placards. Guadagnino will face off against Democratic incumbent Annie Williams of Brooksville and Republican Sherri Anderson of Spring Hill.

"I definitely will not flood the county and make it look ugly with campaign signs," Guadagnino said. "It's not my style."

Guadagnino is an expert on the paraphernalia that a candidate could use. His company, Joni Industries in Brooksville, puts logos on everything from T-shirts to golf tees.

It might work for a business, but a not for a political campaign, he said.

"People think because I'm in the business I'm going to promote myself that way, but it only goes so far," said Guadagnino, who is working on a campaign Web site. Instead, he'll try to reach voters the old-fashioned way, with one-on-one interaction at coffee klatches and other community events.

"There's nothing stronger and more powerful," he said, "than word of mouth."

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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