Three Democrats running for governor reported that their campaigns had raised more than $ 1 million in the past six months, with former nonprofit CEO and author Wes Moore at the top of the package.
Moore reported that he had raised more than $ 2 million, including more than $ 1.9 million from individual contributors since mid-January. The Moore campaign said over 70% of the contributions it received were $ 100 or less.
The campaign also received more than $ 40,000 in donations from other nominee committees, including U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Stany Hoyer ($ 6,000), Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks ($ 6,000), and Baltimore County Council Chairman Julian Jones ($ 6,000).
The political action committee for the Maryland State Education Association, which approved the campaign in April, gave Moore $ 6,000, plus an additional $ 6,000 for his former candidate, Del. Aruna Miller.
The campaign has spent more than $ 3.1 million since mid-January through its combined accounts and saves more than $ 2.1 million for the final weeks of the campaign.
Former United States Secretary of Labor Tom Perez (D) and his deputy, former Baltimore City Council member Shannon Sneed, reported the second-largest fundraiser: nearly $ 1.5 million in the period last reporting.
The campaign received significant infusions of money from unions, including the American Federation of State and Municipal District Employees, the SEIU Local 500, the International Masonry Union, and more than half a dozen others.
The campaign saves about $ 1.2 million in cash, according to reports submitted Tuesday.
“We are continuing to build a strong, diverse and rapidly growing coalition that shares our overarching vision of providing jobs, justice and opportunity for every citizen of Maryland,” Perez said in a statement. “I am very grateful for the generous support of all those who believe in us, including the unprecedented support from workers and working families who believe in my long career in public service, working to expand opportunities and promote justice and to provide for the people of Maryland. “
The campaign is also being fueled by a recent acquisition of TV commercials by an independent spending group, Maryland Opportunity Inc. The Independent Expenditure Unit reported that it had raised $ 1,152,000 between mid-March and June 9 – almost all from unions – and had spent very little of the $ 600,000 on television advertising in the Baltimore media market.
Controller Peter VR Franchot (D) continued to raise and also spend a considerable amount of campaign money.
In January, he and his wife, Monique Anderson-Walker, a former member of Prince George’s County Council, had nearly $ 3.3 million in cash, split into three accounts – his, hers and a joint account.
During the winter and spring, the duo raised $ 1,011,760. They enter the last five weeks before the July 19 primary election with $ 1,626,753 in cash.
Most of their money – nearly $ 1.2 million – went to advertising. More than $ 750,000 went to staff and consultant salaries.
Top fundraisers were also the ones surveyed the most in a Baltimore Sun / University of Baltimore survey published earlier this month. Franchot had the support of 20% of Democrats polled, Moore had 15% support and Perez had 12% support. One-third of potential Democrat voters surveyed had not yet decided who to vote for.
But the campaign for former US Secretary of Education John King and her candidate Michelle Siri said it was showing momentum in the final weeks of the campaign, with more than $ 300,000 raised in the last two weeks, which from gaining approvals from the Sierra Club and Pro-Choice. Maryland.
In total, King and Syria reportedly raised more than $ 875,000 in the most recent reporting period, during which nearly $ 1.3 million was spent.
“Throughout this campaign it has been clear, as Maryland Democrats hear John’s message and learn more about him, they quickly move to support him,” campaign manager Joe O’Hern said in a statement. “It is clear that John is not only a key contender in this race for governor, but has the resources and momentum needed to win this primacy.”
The campaign noted that 77% of the contributions he received were for $ 100 or less. The campaign had about $ 827,000 in cash for the remaining five weeks of the campaign.
Two Democratic candidates have given themselves money for the last part of the campaign.
Former Attorney General Doug Gansler will have more than $ 1 million to spend during the final weeks of the campaign, largely thanks to the $ 800,000 he borrowed from his campaign.
Gansler, who is making his second run for governor, had $ 393,372 in hand in January. He has received $ 291,676 in donations from supporters over the past five months, spending $ 418,029. With the added credit, he has $ 1,067,019 in cash.
In a statement, campaign manager Shaun Daniels said Gansler and his candidate, Candace Hollingsworth, would use their resources to focus on public safety, which the pair have described as the main concern of voters.
“We have kept our dust dry and stored our resources until the right moment,” Daniels said. “This election will be about crime,” and Gansler is the Republican candidate to fear, he continued.
Jon Baron also enters the final weeks of the campaign full of money – and he also slipped it into his pocket to accomplish it.
The Baron had $ 1,733,096 in January, thanks almost entirely to the $ 1.7 million he borrowed from his campaign last year. After raising $ 200,031 and spending $ 314,946 in the just-concluded reporting period, Baron has $ 1,618,180 to use from now until the main election.
“This is when voters really started paying attention to this race,” campaign manager Pablo Roa said in a statement. “We have the resources to meet those where they are with a fundamentally different message that resonates – and that’s exactly what we’ve started to do.”
Ashwani Jain, who is leading a wholly voluntary campaign and has vowed not to receive donations from corporations, developers and political action committees, had not submitted a report by 1 p.m. The public funding committee for Jerome Segal did not request any similar funding; Segal had amassed about $ 10,000 in his campaign efforts in May and June.
Republican race
In the Republican primary for governor, former Secretary of Commerce Kelly Schulz, the favorite of Gov. Larry Hogan and most of the Republican party, had an overwhelming edge on the fundraising front.
Schulz, along with her candidate Jeff Woolford, a military veteran and public health physician, together raised $ 935,394 since mid-January. Between their two accounts, they reported $ 784,985 in cash.
“Once again, our campaign brought about a record increase in fundraising for a non-current Republican candidate for governor,” said Hunter Mullins, Schulz’s campaign manager. “We have the right candidate, the message and the resources needed to win the race and keep moving Maryland in the right direction.”
In contrast, Del Dan Cox and his girlfriend in the race, lawyer Gordana Schifanelli, had a combined $ 183,958.
The Cox campaign has been largely driven by key supporters of former President Trump. But whether he will have the ability to compete with Schulz’s aerial game remains an open question. In fact, frequent candidate Robin Ficker, who spent a term in the House of Delegates from 1979 to 1983, reported more cash than Cox as of June 7: $ 326,890.
Between mid-January and early June, Cox’s main spending appeared to be on radio advertising, which totaled at least $ 145,764, according to his campaign finance reports. He also spent $ 6,500 on a survey by the Remington Research Group. Cox’s spending report included $ 460 to buy a plane ticket to fly to Florida to meet with Trump to discuss his campaign.
The Schulz campaign has 216 pages of individual contributions, totaling $ 826,753. Her campaign has been a magnet for major consulting firms GOP, and her campaign report shows $ 464,411 payments to Flexpoint Media, an Ohio-based media firm; $ 149,058 for Red Maverick Media for broadcast advertising, digital advertising, and campaign literature; $ 59,000 for Ragner Research Partners in Washington, DC, for the survey, $ 47,600 for Grassroots Targeting, a firm in Alexandria, Va., And $ 24,000 for Strategic Partners and Media, a firm used by Hogan.
She also reported having paid $ 203,446 in salaries and related expenses since mid-January.
The Baltimore Sun / University of Baltimore poll earlier this month found that Schulz led Cox 27% to 21% among potential Republican voters. About 42% of respondents were undecided.
