GOP hopefuls raise most in state races
By Ramsey Scott
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via Wyoming News Exchange
CHEYENNE — Candidates for statewide office released their final pre-election fundraising reports Tuesday night, a week before Election Day. And across the board, Republicans hold a significant money lead over their Democratic opponents.
In the race for governor, Mark Gordon saw a huge influx of cash since the Aug. 21 primary. The current state treasurer pulled in $323,517.11 in individual contributions and $58,200 from out-of-state and federal political action committees. Included in the latter figure were multiple donations ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 from energy companies like Anadarko Petroleum.
With those funds, along with money Gordon raised from in-state PACs and other various contributions, and the $200,000 loan given to his campaign by his wife, the Republican entered the final stretch of the campaign after the primary having raised $618,295.12. He was already sitting on a substantial war chest of $194,838.76 before the money was donated, meaning he entered the final run with $807,375.87.
Having gone through the primary without a significant challenger, Democrat Mary Throne was able to reserve a large amount of money for her general election race. She entered the fundraising period after the primary with $210,088.39. She added to that pot $40,385 in individual contributions, along with $12,000 in out-of-state and federal PAC donations.
The biggest source of Throne's revenue for this period, $74,505.63, came from in-state PACs. Wyoming Public Employees Association's PAC accounted for $3,500, but the vast majority of that in-state money came through ActBlue, a left-leaning group that provides candidates with fundraising tools and connects them to donors across the country.
Throne's final total was $337,664.02, a significant pull, but still less than half of Gordon's campaign money.
Constitution Party candidate Rex Rammell has been the flamethrower of the race, attempting to pull voters away from Gordon and make himself the primary conservative candidate. His campaign finance report shows he has a long way to go to keep up financially with the two major party candidates, however.
Rammell pulled in $12,327 in the final report before the election, with $5,475 coming in in-kind donations and $5,352.00 in individual contributions.
Lawrence Struempf's report showed the Libertarian candidate didn't raise any money in the run-up to the general, and his campaign's account showed a balance of negative $73.64.
--U.S. House--
The incumbent in the race for Wyoming's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Liz Cheney, holds a significant lead over her Democratic challenger when it comes to money.
In just two months, between Aug. 2 and Sept. 30, Cheney pulled in $155,810 in campaign donations, with $82,000 coming from PAC contributions. To date, Cheney has pulled in the majority of her $896,839.17 this election cycle from PACs. Even with spending $159,733.90 in that two-month span, Cheney still had $240,624.13 in the bank.
Democratic challenger Greg Hunter is significantly behind in campaign capital. Hunter only raised $5,094.77 during August and September, and the vast majority of his total campaign cash is from a personal loan of $33,494.91 he made to himself earlier in the campaign.
--U.S. Senate--
Incumbent U.S. Sen. John Barrasso once again holds a commanding lead in campaign money. During August and September, the Republican's campaign raised $426,713.71, including $206,000 from PACs.
Even after spending more than $1.2 million in those two months, including a $500,000 check to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Barrasso still had more than $4.5 million in the bank.
Barrasso's Democratic challenger, Gary Trauner, has raised a significant amount of money, but is still miles behind Barrasso in terms of funds. Most of Trauner's campaign capital has come from small donors, with $771,141.20 in individual contributions throughout his campaign and $170,962.66 coming in August and September. The vast majority of those funds have come through the ActBlue system.