Teuber campaign spending strategy: Diversify

Teuber, Armstrong campaigns roll on

Remember, election season isn't over for everyone. Candidates Steve Teuber and Don Armstrong are in a runoff, making it the second time the two have gone head to head.

Teuber, who served on the school board for eight years before losing to Armstrong in 2010, is outspending his rival almost 8 to 1. He's raised about $20,000 since entering the race about a year ago, and he's used about $17,000 of those dollars.

Like most candidates, Teuber has spent a chunk of his donations on signs and media advertising. He also has spent $589 on eating out, $507.28 at grocery stores, $206.66 in what he described as "party supplies," $479.78 for gas and $694.55 in checks made out to the law firm where he works.

Among the more offbeat spending: $26 in charges at a bowling alley for a meeting, and $46.58 at Total Wine.

Armstrong, on the other hand, isn't receiving or spending much cash. He's only received $2,655, of which he's spent all but $100. His most frequent expenditures include gas and campaign signs.

And money is not the only thing shaping the election. The "opt out" testing controversy has evolved into a key issue of the campaign, too. While Armstrong has been very outspoken in his support of Lee opting out of all state-mandated tests, Teuber has remained wary of the sweeping defiance.

Election Day is Nov. 4.

— Emily Atteberry

How small is this state?

From time to time, I chat with college students to get a pulse on the issues impacting them. On Monday at FGCU's campus, the topic was alcohol and the party scene. The consensus: Students like to have fun and drink alcohol, but the overriding theme was students need to know their limits and have friends watching their backs.

"Overdoing it as a freshman isn't a university thing; it's a national thing," said senior Cameron Axel, 22. "It's a collegiate problem."

Axel went on to talk about FGCU's party culture. There aren't a whole lot of wild parties because the campus doesn't have fraternity houses; university-run apartments and dorms are more suited for small gatherings of just a handful of friends. I asked Axel where he's from. Fort Lauderdale, he said. I mentioned a surge of Southeast Florida students have been driving FGCU's enrollment growth in recent years, particularly those from Broward and Palm Beach counties. Axel agreed.

"There are lots of students from my high school at FGCU," Axel said, "in this room, actually."

He pointed out one particular person in the student union's dining area.

"That's my ex-girlfriend," he said.

Awkward.

— Dave Breitenstein