Let the campaigning begin ...

With the local election season officially underway, it’s never too early to start learning more about who is running for office.

And the Web site of the Mecklenburg Board of Elections should be one of your first stops.

With just a few clicks, you can peruse a list of all candidates and their contact information, learn who has donated money to a particular campaign, and find out how that candidate is spending money.

Candidates for office, and current elected officials are required to routinely file finance reports with the Board of Elections.

Recently, several candidates have turned in organizational reports, which must be filed within 10 days of starting a new campaign committee.

Some also have filed mid-year reports summarizing how much money was raised and spent from January to June. For example, Republican mayoral candidate Martin Davis discloses he’s spent more than $12,000 on his campaign in the first half of the year, mostly for his campaign Web site. The forms are due July 31. -- April Bethea