Senate Democrats Financially Crush Republicans For Second Quarter in a Row
For the second quarter in a row, Democratic Senate candidates crushed their Republican counterparts in the fundraising and cash-on-hand (COH) categories.
Early last week was the deadline for legislative candidates to file their quarterly fundraising reports with the Secretary of State. The reporting period covered October 1 to December 31, 2011.
Over the weekend, I reviewed the fundraising reports in 14 key Senate districts that could determine which party controls the State Senate in 2013.
You may recall, I analyzed last quarter’s fundraising reports and discovered that Democrats were leading in the race for campaign cash. This quarter is no different.
In the key districts I analyzed, Democratic Senate candidates raised a combined total of $245,845 and ended the quarter with a combined total of $513,531 in the bank. In comparison, their Republican counterparts raised $187,193 and ended the quarter with a combined total of $244,087 in the bank.
Democratic Senate candidates currently have $269,444 more cash on hand than their Republican counterparts. That massive financial disparity cannot be overemphasized when analyzing the fight for the State Senate. That fact, coupled with a nearly bankrupt Republican Party of Arkansas, while State Democrats have roughly $1.5 million in the bank, gives Democrats a significant advantage in this year’s elections.
The Senate candidate with the largest war chest is Democrat Jerry Brown with $65,162 on hand. The candidate with the smallest war chest is Republican Linda Collins-Smith with a paltry $1,321 in the bank.
The candidate who gets the “What the Hell Were You Doing Last Quarter?” award goes to Republican Rick Green. Green, who is challenging Bruce “Highspeed” Holland in the Republican primary, didn’t raise one dollar last quarter. It is mind-boggling that a candidate in a tough primary didn’t raise money for three whole months.
To date, Republicans have no announced candidates in three key districts, making it difficult to win control of the Senate when they can’t field candidates in these districts. Of course, the deadline is March 1st, so Republican candidates can still emerge.
It’s still a long way until November, but in many critical Senate races Democrats are taking the lead in organizing and fundraising.
Here is the breakdown for the 14 Senate districts I analyzed.
State Senate fundraising: 10/1/11 – 12/31/11
District 4
Uvalde Lindsay (D) Raised: $21,472 COH: $52,165
No announced Republican candidate
District 6
John Paul Wells (D) Raised: $1,080 COH: $9,869
Gary Stubblefield (R) Raised: $3,050 COH: $669
District 9
Bruce Holland (R) Raised: $6,300 COH: $13,536
Rick Green (R) Raised: $0 COH: $17,842
Tracy Pennartz (D) Raised: $6,665 COH: $14,474
District 12
Bruce Maloch (D) Raised: $17,300 COH: $45,566
No announced Republican candidate
District 13
Mike Fletcher (D) Raised: $10,100 COH: $40,348
Alan Clark (R) Raised: $8,202 COH: $18,262
District 15
Ed Garner (R) Raised: $14,425 COH: $3,790
Johnny Hoyt (D) Raised: $12,379 COH $35,271
David Sanders (R) Raised $33,755 COH: $32,490
District 19
David Wyatt (D) Raised: $13,700 COH: $24,589
Linda Collins-Smith (R) Raised: $7,400 COH: $1,321
District 23
Jerry Brown (D) Raised: $18,550 COH: $65,162
Jack Caubble (R) No report filed. Became a candidate just last week.
District 26
Gregg Reep (D) Raised: $11,175 COH: $13,404
Eddie Cheatham (D) Raised: $6,590 COH: $10,937
Mike Akin (R) Raised: $16,950 COH: $40,606
District 27
Bobby Pierce (D) Raised: $1,500 COH: $14,597
Garry Smith (D) Raised: $12,525 COH: $11,540
No announced Republican candidate
District 28
Tiffany Rogers (D) Raised: $12,365 COH: $36,874
Jonathan Dismang (R) Raised: $22,900 COH: 32,890
District 32
Jim Sorvillo (R) Raised: $6,099 COH: $4,883
David Johnson (D) Raised: $28,455 COH: $44,574
District 34
Jane English (R) Raised: $23,620 COH: $23,010
Barry Hyde (D) Raised: $39,143 COH: $62,764
District 35
Linda Tyler (D) Raised: $30,799 COH: $31,397
Jason Rapert (R) Raised: $44,492 COH: $54,890
Editor’s note: Michael Cook is an opinion blogger for Talk Business and is a paid political strategist. The Hoyt for Senate campaign is one of his clients.