Thursday Fundraising Roundup, GOV Edition
A system snafu kept us from posting this yesterday afternoon, but here's a quick look at the latest announced fundraising numbers:
Businessman Bruce Poliquin (R) led the field in the race to replace retiring ME Gov. John Baldacci (D), raising $633K in the 4th quarter, including $100K of his own money. Businessman Matt Jacobson (R) raised $88K and ex-Red Sox vice chair Les Otten (R) raised $85K, plus a $586K donation from his own funds, the AP reported. Waterville Mayor Paul LePage (R) raised $61K, including $20K of his own.
On the Dem side, state Senate Pres. Libby Mitchell (D) pulled in $70K, while ex-House Speaker John Richardson (D) raised $46K. Mitchell and Richardson are vying for public funding, and both have reached the minimum $40K mark to qualify. Businesswoman Rosa Scarcelli (D) raised $258K, $16K of it in loan form.
NV Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) raised a paltry $165K over the last quarter, spending $130K of it and renewing talk that the deeply unpopular incumbent may not even make it to Election Day. His main rival, ex-Fed. Judge Brian Sandoval, pulled in $900K over the same period.
And Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam (R) was the first TN GOV candidate to announce his haul. He's raised $5.7M over the last 3 months.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) is making the DSCC happy today; he announced he's pulled in $1.2M in the final 3 months of the year, leaving him with $3.5M CoH. His opponent in the Dem primary, ex-House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D), won't release his totals until the 1/31 deadline.
On the House side, state Rep. Raul Labrador (R) said he raised $30K and gave himself $50K more since entering the race against Rep. Walt Minnick (D-ID) last month. Ex-state Sen. Joe Heck (R) raised $191K in his first quarter in the race against Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), where polls show the 2 candidates tied at 40%.
Ex-Cong. aide Jack Bailey (R) raised $100K for his newly announced bid against Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN), though he will face a tough primary against physician Scott DesJarlais (R). Meanwhile, businessman Bill Flores (R) has contributed $304K of the $416K he raised in the 4th quarter to his own campaign as he takes on 4 other GOPers in the race against Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX).