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.