After teasing the media with some details from their fundraising reports, the candidates in Congressional District 2 filed the full reports with the Federal Elections Commission last week.
As noted in last week's Skinny column, Republican Martha McSally had a mammoth haul, bringing in more than $653,000 in the second quarter of 2014.
But McSally is also spending at a faster clip than U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, the Democrat she wants to bring down. McSally reported spending $343,000, while Barber spent just $205,000 between April 1 and June 30.
Overall, McSally's finance reports show she had raised a total of $1.8 million for her campaign and still had more than $1.1 million in the bank as of June 30.
Barber, who raked in about $550,000 in the most recent quarter, had raised $2.1 for his 2014 campaign and still had more than $1.5 million as of June 30.
Meanwhile, both McSally and Barber plan to start spending some of that campaign cash on television commercials this week.
When it comes to fundraising, McSally's GOP rivals aren't even in the same ballpark.
Businesswoman Shelley Kais reported raising just $11,284 in the quarter. For her entire campaign, Kais had raised $33,000 for her campaign as of June 30 and had just $13,000 left in the bank.
McSally's other challenger, Air Force veteran Chuck Wooten, raised only $20,000 in the second quarter. For the entire campaign, Wooten had raised $27,000 and had just $3,400 left to spend as of June 30.
The three Republican candidates are scheduled to debate at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 26, at Green Valley's Quail Creek Clubhouse, 2055 E. Quail Crossing Blvd.
Over in Congressional District 1, the fundraising is a lot more lopsided.
Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick had raised $420,000 in the second quarter. Overall, Kirkpatrick had raised more than $1.9 million for her reelection campaign and had nearly $1.3 million on hand as of June 30.
"Folks know Ann has a strong record of results for the people of the First Congressional District," said Team Kirkpatrick campaign manager Nettie Silleck in a press release. "That's why she has vastly outraised all three of her opponents so far. Her tireless efforts continue to bring real solutions to veterans, small business owners, tribal areas and all communities throughout her large, mostly rural district."
The Republican candidates in the race are struggling to match Kirkpatrick's fundraising. House Speaker Andy Tobin raised nearly $177,000 in Q2 but spent nearly $170,000. Overall, Tobin had collected $562,000 for the campaign, but he'd already spent more than $341,000 of that and, as of June 30, had less than $221,000 in the bank.
Rancher and oilman Gary Kiehne continues to finance his own campaign. Of the $193,000 that Kiehne raised in Q2, he loaned himself $100,000. In total, Kiehne had loaned himself $300,000 of the $627,000 he had raised as of June 30. He had $337,000 left in the bank as of June 30.
State Rep. Adam Kwasman continues to struggle to raise funds for his campaign. Kwasman raised roughly $74,500 in Q2 and spent about $51,000. In total, Kwasman had raised just $205,000 for his campaign and had only $88,000 on hand as of June 30.
Kwasman was spending an estimated $35,000 on television ads across the district, according to a source that is tracking spending in the district.
But that TV ad, which features Kwasman's opposition to Common Core learning standards and the expansion of health-insurance coverage to Arizona's low-income residents as well as his endorsement by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, couldn't match the attention that Kwasman got after he confused a bus of YMCA campers with an anticipated bus full of undocumented, unaccompanied minors who had been scheduled to arrive at a facility near Oracle, Arizona.
Kwasman told Phoenix TV reporter Brahm Resnik that he could see "fear on the faces" of the kids as they drove past him, only to furiously backtrack once Resnik told him the bus was full of campers from the Marana School District.
Kwasman's gaffe left him the subject of ridicule in publications across the nation, culminating with a clip on Comedy Central's Colbert Report.
Now there's publicity you can't buy.
Or, as Tobin campaign manager Bill Cortese put it an email to campaign supporters: "Kwasman is a national laughing stock for mistaking a bus of students from Marana School District for illegal immigrants. The video is going viral, and just like that, he has turned this issue into a joke—just what the left and the liberal media wants. It's clear that Adam Kwasman will say or do anything to get elected."
