The official deadline for candidates to file their second quarterly FEC reports is looming this coming Thursday. But a lot of campaigns are teasing their numbers a bit early, hoping to highlight their legitimacy for the Fall campaign.
Culled from a number of sources (although the intrepid work of both Reid Wilson and the crew at SSP really stand out), here is a summary of some of the high-profile numbers released to-date.
The House races will wait till the beginning of the week, simply because their sheer volume dictates a separate posting. For now, let's look at the statewide races.
THE U.S. SENATE
- AZ-Sen: It is hard to imagine that this is good news (!) for John McCain, but his likely Democratic challenger, Rodney Glassman, is reporting $500K raised, with another half-million in self-financing. In all, that pushes the Tucson councilman to the seven-figure range. This far exceeds the highest amount raised by a Democrat against McCain (which remains Richard Kimball in 1996 (who raised less than $700K).
- CO-Sen: NRSC fave Jane Norton shot out of the gate with an announcement that she had banked $900K for the quarter. That will almost certainly put her ahead of Ken Buck, though the teabagger insurgent still leads her in both polls and activist enthusiasm. The two leading Dems, incumbent Michael Bennet and challenger Andrew Romanoff, have yet to report their totals, though Romanoff did make some waves this week strong denunciation of the current system (which he referred to in an ad as a "rigged casino"). Hard to know if that is a sign of simple frustration, or a foreshadowing of his second quarter figures.
- FL-Sen: Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek had another solid funding quarter, reporting over $1 million raised and roughly $4 million in the bank. Sadly for him, with free-spending Jeff Greene in the primary, even $4 million is going to get swamped. Republican Marco Rubio and Independent Charlie Crist are still hanging onto their numbers.
- NH-Sen:
Democrat Paul Hodes, who ceded the fundraising lead to NRSC fave Kelly Ayotte in the 1st quarter of 2010, retook the lead in the second quarter. He raised $725K, edging Ayotte's haul of $720K. Ayotte had a similarly slight edge in Q1. Republican Bill Binnie trailed at $550K, but he can scratch out a check as needed (Correction: Helps to read the fine print on the date of articles. The Hodes article was referring to Q2 of 2009, not 2010. Team Hodes will release their numbers a bit later in the week).
- OH-Sen: Republican Rob Portman might not be crushing Democrat Lee Fisher in the polls, but he has cemented his status as one of the most formidable fundraisers of the cycle. Portman raised over $2.6 million in Q2, easily eclipsing Fisher, who nonetheless had his best cycle to date at a tick over one million. Portman also has roughly an 8-to-1 edge in cash on hand.
- THE FUNDRAISER-IN-CHIEF: These numbers won't count till the 3rd quarter, in any event, but it is worth noting that President Obama's fundraising touch has filled the coffers of two Senate campaigns this week. It was reported that Obama's fundraisers in Missouri netted a half a million dollars for open seat Senate candidate Robin Carnahan, while embattled incumbent Majority Leader Harry Reid tallied $800K from his Obama appearance.
THE GUBERNATORIAL RACES
- GA-Gov: All of the candidates have turned their cards over here (in part because of the reporting rules in advance of this month's primaries in the Peach State). Former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes leads all comers, with $1.3 million raised for the quarter and nearly $5 million for the cycle. The GOP frontrunner, insurance commissioner John Oxendine, might have slipped in the polls, but he remains the clear GOP financial leader. Oxendine tallied $869K for the quarter, well ahead of rivals Nathan Deal ($539K), Karen Handel ($431K), and Eric Johnson ($401K). At parity with that trio of Republicans was the #2 man in the Democratic primary: Attorney General Thurbert Baker ($537K).
- MA-Gov: Massachusetts has monthly fundraising reports, rather than quarterly, and those figures show that Independent Tim Cahill's woes are not limited to just the most recent polling data in the Bay State. Republican Charlie Baker actually won the month, raising $610K in June, well ahead of incumbent Democrat Deval Patrick ($476K). Cahill, meanwhile, is way back for the month, raising only $71K while spending over a half-million dollars for the month. Patrick trails both men, however, in cash on hand.
- TN-Gov: Not only is Republican Bill Haslam, the wealthy businessman and Knoxville Mayor, well ahead in the recent polling, he also dominates the money chase in the Volunteer State. He raised $1.7 million in the latest reporting period, which doubled up the only other candidate to release their figures to date: Congressman Zach Wamp. Republican Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and the leading Democrat in the field, Mike McWherter, have yet to reveal their numbers.