Hutchinson, Ross Spending Money Down The Homestretch

With 80 days until Election Day, gubernatorial candidates Asa Hutchinson and Mike Ross are spending their campaign cash to book valuable air time in the race to succeed term-limited Governor Mike Beebe.

Hutchinson, the GOP nominee, reported raising more than $275,000 in July, bringing his total fundraising total to more than $3 million.

After spending a major portion of $485,000 on reserving TV airtime, Hutchinson reported having just under $830,000 cash on hand at the end of July.

Mike Ross, the Democratic nominee for Governor, raised more than $300,000 in the month of July and ended the month with $344,000 cash on hand. Ross said he spent $1.1 million in July to book airtime for TV advertising for later this fall.

Ross has raised more than $5 million so far in his campaign.

“We’re excited to be in a strong position for the final months of the campaign and I’m confident that we have the resources necessary to win,” said Hutchinson campaign manager Jon Gilmore. “Those resources go directly to sharing Asa’s plan for Arkansas’s future, which is a plan of job creation, economic growth and new opportunities through innovation.”

Dustin Smith, Deputy Campaign Manager for Finance for the Ross campaign, said, “[O]ur strong fundraising allows us to continue organizing aggressive media buys and historic get-out-the-vote operations as we approach Election Day. In fact, last month, we purchased more than $1 million in television advertising to secure a strong media presence in the last nine weeks of the campaign, and the money we raise from this point forward will help strengthen and expand that buy.”