GOP Senate candidate Mead Treadwell raised $164,016 in the second quarter, which runs from April 1 to June 30, his report from the Senate clerk’s office shows. The report shows that he has $167,047 cash on hand, but his debts are $254,309, which means that he’s nearly $90,000 in the red.
Unlike Sen. Mark Begich and GOP candidate Dan Sullivan, Treadwell had declined to release the reports to the media earlier, presumably because this report, like his previous ones, don’t bode well for his ability to raise the kind of money that many believe is needed to beat Sen. Mark Begich in the fall.
Treadwell formed an exploratory committee in December, 2012, and has been an official candidate since the June, 2013. All told, he’s only raised $881,778, not including a $240,500 loan from himself to his campaign. It’s unclear if the loan is part of his reported debt. Begich raised $1.25 million in the last quarter alone and still has $2.15 million on hand. Sullivan raised $1.2 million and has $1.7 million on hand.
Joe Miller, who among the Republican candidates has relied the most heavily on grassroots support, only raised $129,000 last quarter. However, he has about $300,000 on hand, much of that being money left over from his 2010 race and his subsequent leadership PAC. And as Miller points out, he won the Republican primary in 2010 with about that amount of money.
Treadwell’s inability to raise money is not for lack of trying. He hired high-powered Republican Lisa Spies last fall to help fundraise, and in 2013 alone, he had at least 13 fundraisers across the country. He has chalked up his poor fundraising performance to the fact that Dan Sullivan has grabbed most of the attention of the big Republican donors, and has said that if he wins the primary, the money will begin to come to him.
However, it’s unclear if Treadwell will be able to lay the foundation in order to raise the money quickly enough to effectively challenge Begich.
In the meantime, although he hasn’t indicated that he would do so, he does have the financial ability to give his campaign a substantial loan in the last few weeks before the primary.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
This is all quite simple. If you were to ask each candidate are you better off now than you were 6 months ago, Sullivan would say “yes,” and Mead would say “no.” Mead was in the race nearly a year longer than Sullivan, and nearly every Sullivan supporter was a Mead supporter at one point. Mead has run a non-existent campaign that is only competitive because Put AK First has spent $3 mil doing Mead’s work for him. Any statement that Mead is relevant because of anything his campaign is proactively doing is false. – Peanut Gallery
I wouldn’t call it a gamble when the polls show its the closest race in Alaska’s history. Just a thought.
Funny, despite Mead’s lack of cash, hes still neck and neck with Sullivan, makes you wonder how the race would look if Sullivan didn’t have his Lower 48 friends.
The reason why those numbers seem that way is because Sullivan’s super PAC’s will have only one member in Alaska, which is why his campaign call it “local”. Only 10% of Sullivan’s campaign money comes from Alaska while more than 60% of Mead’s funding is truly local
Well that’s what happens when outside super PACs start getting involved in other people’s elections. They try to fix the election in their favor with tons of their money.
Sullivan did raise more than Treadwell; It’s a fact. Sullivan raised more in Alaska than did Mead; That too, is a fact. Treadwell had more Alaskans donate to his campaign; Again, this is a fact. The portrayal of these facts, the perception of what happens is, in fact, reality.
Mead’s campaign will hold up the number of Alaskan Donors, one that is higher than Dan’s, like a golden talisman.
Dan’s campaign will hold up their money like a silver bullet against the Democrats who already have dozens of paid field-operatives on the ground.
Mark will hold up the title of U.S. Senator regardless of who ends up going against him.
And Joe.
Well, Joe will still be held up on losing to Lisa in 2010. He should hold up and run against her…but we already know, Parnell 2016!
Who’s ready for Mayor Dan to become Governor Dan?
Lamestream: My point exactly.
Why would PAF retool and go after Treadwell? Then Sullivan might actually win primary.
Well, I suppose that’s what happens when your family members aren’t CEOs and high-profile GOP donors.
@lamestream. Another buy this week by Put Alaska First is all about opposing Sullivan. Treadwell nowhere to be found. Neither Begich or the D’s have put a dime into going after Treadwell. That’s the real test. Amanda
Question posed to Elizabeth Smith based on her post – If Mead enjoys such a wide spread electoral popularity in Alaska, why then was Dan Sullivan able to raise more money from Alaskans than Treadwell did. Your arguments are weak, just like your candidate. Also I don’t see meaningful endorsements coming Mead’s way like Dan is picking up with the most recent being the Mat-Su Business Alliance. Good luck. And remember, especially since your candidate doesn’t, that the real victory will be in November when we beat Begich.
I’m blessed/cursed that I get fed a steady diet of all the major candidates press releases. About two weeks ago, the Begich camp switched it up and now every release goes after Treadwell.
This isn’t brain surgery folks; Begich believes Treadwell will win the GOP primary. And when it comes to having a competent political team and pollster, Begich is second to no one. Today, Sullivan’s personal PAC started an anti-Treadwell radio ad campaign. I think they are seeing the same results as the Begich people.
Amanda, reconcile that with the money.
Unless my math is off considerably, it appears that Dan Sullivan has raised more money in Alaska in the 2nd quarter than Mead Treadwell did in totality, including Alaska and the rest of the country. Treadwell’s notion that money will pour into his campaign, should he win the primary, is foolish. The pressure for money is intense. If Treadwell were the nominee, I suspect that the RNC would virtually write off Alaska and direct funds where they had a better chance of winning a senate seat. It’s simple, if you want to beat Begich you need to vote for Sullivan.
Dear Mead,
Just because you CAN loan yourself money for a gamble campaign….doesn’t mean you should.
Drop out and support Sullivan.
I doubt there is a single person running for office that doesn’t care about Alaska. I doubt there are very many people in the state of Alaska that do not care about the state of Alaska. That doesn’t make him a competent legislator.
I find it hard to support a man that on one hand rails in a radio ad about the federal government putting our nation into terrible debt, but then can’t run a political campaign without spending more than what he has. Oddly enough, he has spent 110.2% of what he has taken in…which is higher as a percentage than what the fed has done. Kind of hard to be taken seriously when it comes to fiscal management with this type of record.
Alaskans appreciate a man who knows Alaska. I had the pleasure of personally getting to know Mead Treadwell this summer, and I was impressed with the depth of this man’s knowledge on Alaskan issues. From aviation to fisheries, the breadth of this man’s knowledge is astounding. It’s time to send someone to Washington DC who will remember us folks back home. It’s time to send someone to represent Alaska who knows our issues, who’s been here for 40 years fighting for our rights. Mead knows Alaska, and he cares about Alaskans. He has successfully ran for office before–he won 39 out of 40 House Districts in his race for Lt. Governor. He not only has the experience and the knowledge to win in November, but he will carry that knowledge and experience to Washington DC for the benefit of Alaska. It has been an honor getting to know Mead, and he has earned my vote on August 19th.
So Mead’s plan is to alienate as many of Dan’s supporters as possible and then ask them for money if he wins?
Wow. Joe Miller raised more than Mead, and Dan Sullivan raised more in Alaska alone than Mead raised all quarter. Maybe Mead’s strategy is to begin cashing in his airline points…