NATCHEZ — With less than a week before Adams County’s special election for sheriff, candidates have turned in the first of three campaign finance reports.

Figures found in the pre-election report show that candidates have collected approximately $198,900 for campaign expenses between the dates of Jan. 1 – Oct. 24.

Of the seven campaigns, Cliff Cox has brought in the most support with $134,025 — over half of the collective total.

Click on the following link for the Oct. 27 campaign finance reports from the seven candidates running for sheriff: Campaign Reports.

Randy Freeman’s campaign has the second highest total of campaign funds collected, bringing in $29,650 worth of financial support.

The major contribution to the Cox campaign comes from D.A. New in the sum of $120,000.

However, Cox said much of his campaign’s financial backing has come from the support of family and friends who see his mission as a good investment.

“They want the quality of law enforcement here to be good, and they want the crime rate to go down,” Cox said.

So far, Cox has used much of his finances on advertising such as signs, radio ads and phone polls and is currently the only candidate to list a campaign worker.

Cox said his campaign is continuing to receive financial backing, and he will be using the funds up until the day of the election.

“I feel strong about my campaign,” Cox said.

While the financial support of Cox’s campaign dwarfs other candidates’, he said the effectiveness of his efforts can only be gauged by the public.

“I’ve never been a political race before. It’s whatever the voter perceives,” Cox said.

While Freeman’s isn’t as large, friends, family and members of the community have financially supported his efforts.

The largest contribution made to Freeman’s campaign was made by Vance Breaux, of Loreauville, La., for $20,000, and the largest local contribution has come from two companies — Jordan Logistics Inc. and Jordan Carriers — both in the sum of $1,500.

However, Freeman said the bulk of his campaign’s support has come from different kinds of people who have different means of giving

“I’ve received support from people from all walks of life — from wealthy people to poor people. If they could only give a dollar, that’s great. If they could give $20,000, that’s great, too,” Freeman said. “We’ve even got people cooking dinner for us because they know we don’t have time to cook.”

Freeman’s report shows much of his contribution money going toward signs, advertising, political handouts, television ads and radio spots.

Freeman said while financial backing is all well and good, there are other methods of gaining people’s interest and winning votes.

“I don’t think this election is going to be bought,” Freeman said. “The best results are from going door-to-door talking to each person. Everyone wants you to ask them for their vote.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve never seen anything this fantastic,” Freeman said.

The five other candidates’ reports show:

4Chuck Mayfield has brought in a total of $25,940.94 — approximately $3,000 shy of Freeman’s budget.

4Ray Brown has collected $1,820 from campaign backers, but spent $4,261.79.

4Gregory Wisner has collected $6,115 in campaign funds.

4Craig Godbold has brought in $1,350 from campaign backers.

4Roosevelt Owens Jr. did not collect any funds for his campaign. Instead, he spent $1,327 out of his own account to purchase materials used in his campaign.

The next candidate’s pre-runoff finance report is due on Nov. 17.