Campaign money affects election

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - In just a matter of months, Hoosiers will have the opportunity to elect a new governor, but long before the vote, the candidates need to campaign. So in order to campaign, candidates need cash. But can cash change the outcome of an election?

Gubernatorial hopefuls John Gregg and Mike Pence have spent the summer canvassing the Hoosier state for votes and support. For them that support comes largely in the form of money donations

So far Pence has out raised Gregg by almost three millions dollars. We wondered if the man with the bigger wallet has more money or just wealthier friends. So we sat down with local campaign fund expert Jim Bopp to find out.

"Money is a reflection of the support that a candidate has. The more support a candidate has, the more money a candidate likely has,” Bopp said.

We wanted to test it out, so we looked the last three elections for governor in Indiana.

Starting in 2000 when the late Frank O’Bannon ran against David McIntosh. O’Bannon’s total funds were around four million dollars and McIntosh raised about 2.6 million; O’Bannon cruised to victory.

Then in 2000 and 2004, Mitch Daniels won two terms, but each campaign he out raised his opponents. First he beat Joe Kernan by more than one million dollars, then Jill Long Thompson with more two million dollars.

So what does that mean for the Gregg-Pence election?

"If you look at the pence race right now, you can see not only is he raising more money but the polls show that he is overwhelmingly ahead,” Bopp said.

Meaning if John Gregg plans to catch Mike Pence, it may actually be all about the money.