Alaska U.S. Sen. Mark Begich raised $813,000 in the third quarter, which runs from July 1 to Sept. 30, according to a filing shared by his campaign staff. He has $2.4 million cash on hand. All told, Begich has raised $4.8 million this election cycle.
Begich does not have a Democratic challenger in the primary, so the real heat in the race belongs to the three Republicans who have so far filed to run against him: Joe Miller, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, and Dan Sullivan. Miller did not respond to a request to share his file. Sullivan wasn’t running this past quarter and didn’t have to report.
Treadwell raised less than $200,000. He has about $155,000 on hand. In total, Treadwell, who announced his plans to run in June, has raised only $340,000.
His campaign called it “tremendous” but it has to be a disappointment. Candidates in other races who are challenging in what are considered vulnerable Democratic Senators have done much better.
In Arkansas for instance, Rep. Tom Cotton outraised Sen. Mark Pryor $1.07 million to Pryor’s $1.04 million.The Republican favorite in Louisiana, Rep. Bill Cassidy, raised. $700,000. In North Carolina, GOP favorite Thom Tillis raised $800,000.
As everyone knows, despite its geographic size, Alaska is a small state demographically, making fundraising more difficult. Also, there isn’t a contested Republican primary in these other states.
Even so, the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee is watching closely, and it won’t throw the full weight of its support behind a candidate who can’t raise more than 25 percent of what his opponent raises.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
The abiltiy to think like that shows you’re an expert
Wilson is spot on about Treadwell. How in the world could the Treadwell campaign call that tremendous? I call it pathetic. Abraham Lincon once said, “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” Evidently, Treadwell is based on his campaign’s comments. Happy days are hear again.
A
Treadwell’s campaign coffers have proven ridiculously unattractive.
But as Shakespeare said, “Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.”
Hopefully, Commissioner Sullivan is. Otherwise, the GOP will be giving the seat to Begich.
Hopefully, Sullivan will be a better fund raiser and provide some real hope for us GOP members. Frankly, I felt sorry for Treadwells lak luster perfoirmance. He should realize his candidacy isn’t catching on. I suspect that if for some reason he were to win the primary that Begich would win by a landslide.