Three Republicans Top A Million Dollars Raised (UPDATED)

Once again, Republican Congressional candidates have posted some major numbers.

All three Republican candidates for Congress with a Democratic opponent announced today that they have raised over a million dollars. These numbers are expected to far surpass their Democratic challengers giving them a huge financial advantage heading into the home stretch.

In the First District, Congressional Rick Crawford’s campaign passed the $1.3 million mark with over a quarter of a million coming in the third quarter.  Crawford for Congress is well-positioned for the final stretch with over $600,000 cash-on-hand.

His Democratic opponent, Scott Ellington, received some assistance from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee before they pulled their support last month. Ellington has not yet filed a report. (See update.)

Griffin for Congress also raised a large sum for his re-election bid passing the $1.5 million mark with over $200,000 in the third quarter.  Griffin has close to a half million dollars of cash to spend.  His Democratic opponent, Herb Rule, has not yet filed a report.

“It is an honor to serve the people of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, and I am humbled by the outpouring of support I continue to receive,” Griffin said. “I am fighting to change Washington at its core and remain focused on encouraging private sector job growth, controlling federal spending and stopping tax increases.”

The new kid on the block, Tom Cotton, raised the most for his campaign down in the Fourth District coming in just shy of $2 million.  Over a half million came in the third quarter with close to that amount available to spend for the rest of his campaign.  By contrast, his opponent State Sen. Gene Jeffress raised just under $80,000 total with $12,000 in cash less a personal loan of $4,000.

UPDATE – Ellington for Congress filed their FEC report showing they have raised around $325,000 with over half of that coming in during the current quarter.  If you recall, Ellington briefly brought in Mark Warren to help with his campaign and generate some much needed fundraising.

I don’t see anything on the report showing any disbursements to Warren or his consulting firm, Next Level Partners, nor do I see any in-kind contributions from the DCCC for Warren’s salary before his departure from the campaign.

I have a note in to the new Ellington press secretary asking about this and will let you know if I hear back from him.  Nevertheless, it seems the Ellington campaign is pretty pleased with their fundraising.

“Our most recent federal election filing showed that we had a very competitive and more profitable quarter than the incumbent Congressman,” wrote Ellington’s new campaign manager Brian Richardson in an email to supporters. “In the primary, we were outspent by our opponent 8 to 1, and our grassroots support helped push us across the finish line.”

Ellington’s cash on hand is just over $80,000, while Crawford’s is over $600,000. I am not sure I follow the fuzzy math of how this is “more profitable.”

Also, Rule for Congress has raised a total of just over $70,000 with around $41,000 of it coming in the third quarter.  His campaign has under $10,000 cash on hand with debts of over $37,000.

UPDATE II – I heard back from the Ellington campaign although they ducked the question.

“Any questions regarding Mark Warren should be directed to the DCCC,” said Cord Rapert with the Ellington for Congress Campaign.

I have asked them if the DCCC was paying for Warren to manage Ellington’s campaign, shouldn’t this be disclosed as an in-kind contribution – such as Clark Hall disclosed during the primary?