CQ Politics Campaign Money Watch
Published by CQ Politics.com
7/10/07
Presidential candidates have been selectively leaking their campaign fundraising numbers for the year's second quarter, which ended June 30 - even though their official reports are not due to be filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) until Sunday, July 15.
And the same is true of candidates for Senate and House races in 2008, especially those who think their money figures give them something to talk about.
In advance of the avalanche of campaign finance reports next weekend, CQPolitics.com is providing roundups of some of the candidates' campaign receipt revelations.
The following listing, compiled Tuesday, is not meant to be comprehensive. Candidates and their campaign committees who want to bring their second-quarter figures to our (and potentially our readers') attention are invited to contact CQPolitics.com at .
- Illinois' 10th: The two Democrats running to challenge Illinois Republican Rep. Mark Steven Kirk next year each topped the quarter-million mark during the second-quarter reporting period.
Dan Seals - a marketing executive who made an impression during his 2006 political debut, losing to Kirk by 7 percentage points - said he had raised $250,000 from more than 400 donors.
Jay Footlik, a former aide to President Bill Clinton and a former campaign adviser to 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, edged him out in the money race, though. Footlik said that he raised $286,000 in this year's second quarter.
Both Footlik and Seals said in the past few weeks that they would challenge Kirk, whose district takes in suburbs north of Chicago. The Democratic primary is Feb. 5.
Kirk, who has a history as a strong fundraiser, announced earlier that he raised $617,000 in the second quarter and had $1.1 million on hand as July began.
- Massachusetts' 5th District: Democrat Niki Tsongas has raised more than $1 million for her special election campaign to succeed Democrat Martin T. Meehan, who resigned his seat July 1 to take a university post. Tsongas, a college dean best known as the widow of former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas, is competing with several other Democrats in a Sept. 4 special primary election - which in turn will determine the front-runner in the Oct. 16 special general election.
The 5th, which takes in Lowell and Lawrence, has a decided though not quite overwhelming Democratic lean.
- California's 26th District: Democrat Russ Warner, a small business owner, raised more than $100,000 for his challenge to 14-term Rep. David Dreier - the ranking Republican and former chairman of the House Rules Committee - and will report more than $150,000 cash on hand, according to a statement from his campaign.
Warner said he was prompted to run for the House next year after his son, a serviceman, was deployed to Iraq.
Warner's aides contend that the fundraising totals establish their candidate as a "serious challenger" against Dreier, who was first elected to the House in 1980.
- Florida's 19th District: Democratic state Rep. Ben Graber personally contributed $200,000 to his campaign treasury for his 2008 primary challenge to Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler. Graber pledged in April to raise $1 million for his campaign and said he was prepared to expend personal funds. In fact, nearly all the money Graber is reporting has come from his own pockets: He says he raised a total of $214,000 and had $160,000 on hand.
In 1996, Wexler and Graber competed in a four-candidate primary field to succeed Democratic incumbent Harry A. Johnston, who retired. Wexler won with 47 percent of the vote, while Graber finished third with 21 percent.
