02/13/2026
When more than 70% of a commissioner’s campaign cash comes from big PACs, law firms, engineers, and vendors who don’t live in the county, the real “constituency” starts to look less like the people who drive the roads and pay the taxes and more like the people who design the roads and cash the checks. That money brings with it a quiet shift in loyalty—from front‑porch voters to boardroom donors—blurring the line between representation and service contract. Voters may still supply the ballots, but if they no longer supply the bulk of the money, they have to ask whether their local government is being built for them, or merely built on their backs.