24 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY,JULY17,2002
Candidates approach $10 million in campaign funds
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several Senate candidates in high-profile races are closing in on $10 million in campaign cash for the 2002 election.
At least one candidate has exceeded that. Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, facing no Republican challenger and considering a White House run in 2004, has raised $12 million. Kerry has nearly $3.5 million on hand and could use any money left after the fall election for a presidential campaign.
Republican Elizabeth Dole has collected $8 million for her bid to succeed retiring North Carolina GOP Sen. Jesse Helms in one of several races that could decide whether Democrats keep their slim Senate majority.
GOP front-runner Dole, a former U.S. labor secretary and presidential candidate, has raised double the campaign cash of top Democratic candidate Erskine Bowles, a White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, reports released Monday by the campaigns show.
Dole has $729,982 more on hand than Bowles has. Although North Carolina has yet to set a primary date because of a fight over redistricting. Dole has hit the airwaves aggressively, running three campaign ads across the state over the past five weeks, the only Senate candidate there to go statewide.
"It is a challenging race and people recognize that," Dole representative Mary Brown Brewer said. "We aren't sitting back and taking anything for granted."
Bowles representative Susan Lagana said Bowles is pleased with what he raised. Bowles was the first Democrat to air TV ads in the state and has hit several of the state's major media markets.
Other top fund-raisers included Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, who drew national attention as federal investigators probed his relationship with a contributor to his 1996 campaign. The investigation ended in January with no charges, but the Senate ethics committee continues to review the case.
Torricelli has raised more than $8.7 million as of June 30 for his re-election bid. He finished the month with nearly $6.1 million to spend.
Torricelli's wealthy GOP opponent,
Douglas Forrester, reported about $2 million on hand as of June 30. Forrester has lent his campaign $2.85 million since May 16, following a prior loan of $3.1 million.
As of June 30, he had raised $106,344 from
Among other closely watched Senate races:
contributors.
Democratic incumbent Max Cleland of Georgia has raised $7.6 million, about $3.6 million more than his top Republican challenger, Rep. Saxby Chambliss.
— Minnesota Sen, Paul Wellstone, a Democrat, has raised $7.5 million, about $2 million more than Republican challenger Norm Coleman, former mayor of St. Paul.
Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan of Missouri has raised about $7 million, about $2 million more than her Republican opponent, Rep. Jim Talent.
Control of the House is also at stake this fall as Republicans seek to maintain their majority. Among incumbent matchups created by redistricting:
Connecticut Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson has raised about $2.4 million, nearly double the total of Democratic Rep. Jim Maloney.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Rep. Tim Holden has raised $769,374, compared to $581,940 for Republican Rep. George Gekas.
— Mississippi Republican Rep. Chip Pickering has raised more than $1.6 million, topping Democratic Rep. Ronnie Shows' $984,980.
Also Monday, President Bush demolished his own record for a single-candidate fund-raising appearance.
Bush helped raise nearly $4 million for Alabama's Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Bob Riley, an infusion that could catapult Riley past Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman in campaign cash.
Several Democrats considering 2004 presidential runs are raising money aggressively for this fall's election, in part through their own political action committees.
So far this year, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards' PAC has collected more than $2.7 million; Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman's, nearly $1.2 million; former Vice President Al Gore's, about $825,000; House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri's, $434,205; and Kerry's PAC,$500,000.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's DASHPAC has donated the maximum to several Senate campaigns and has about $2.4 million on hand to help other Democrats.
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