Tolbert: Spending In Arkansas Senate Race Tops $52 Million

Central ArkansasNortheast ArkansasNorthwest ArkansasTalk PoliticsTolbert Report

by Jason Tolbert ([email protected]) October 28, 2014 6:17 pm 229 views 

It should surprise no one who has been watching television, opened their mailbox, or answered their telephone in the past couple of months that spending in the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Mark Pryor and Rep. Tom Cotton has reached unprecedented levels. According to the latest numbers from the Federal Election Commission, the total amount reportedly spent by outside groups on this race has reached just over $34 million.

Groups report their spending as either “support” or “oppose” for one candidate. Combining these numbers, Cotton has the most money being spent for him or against his opponent with just over $20 million from 37 different groups. Here are the top groups that have spent more than $1 million for Cotton or against Pryor.

  • Freedom Partners Action Fund, Inc. (Chamber of Commerce) – $3,279,200.85
  • National Republican Senatorial Committee – $3,115,614.49
  • Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (Karl Rove) – $2,556,439.75
  • American Crossroads (Karl Rove) – $1,995,574.76
  • Arkansas Horizon (Sheldon Adelson) – $1,805,900.00
  • Government Integrity Fund Action Network – $1,047,880.00
  • John Bolton Super PAC – $1,073,543.24

Pryor has has a plethora of groups boosting his campaign as well, although he lags behind Cotton’s totals. The FEC shows 9 groups that have reported spending more than $14 million either supporting him or opposing Cotton.  Here are the top groups spending more than $1 million for Pryor.

  • Senate Majority PAC (Harry Reid) – $5,170,162.90
  • Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee – $4,684,607.55
  • Patriot Majority USA (Labor Unions) – $2,716,359.32

Of course, this spending is all on top of the spending of the actual campaigns themselves.

The latest FEC filings show that the Cotton for Senate campaign has raised more than $8 million, spent just under $6.5 million and has almost $1.9 million cash-on-hand. The Pryor for Senate campaign has raised more than $10.7 million, spent over $12.1 million and has about $360,000 cash-on-hand.

If you are keeping a total score, these numbers put total spending on this race alone at more than $52 million with $26.5 million for Cotton versus $26.1 million for Pryor.