REPORT: Rep. Barber Outraised In 1st Quarter By McSally, But Has More In Bank (FOLLOWING MONEY IN ARIZONA'S POLITICS)

(In the past, Arizona's Politics has not published campaign "announcements" about fundraising efforts before they have filed the report with the FEC or the Arizona Secretary of State, and all of the numbers can be looked at in context.  Some campaigns have been known to "cherry pick" the favorable parts of the report and leave out the negatives.  However, this quarter, we will experiment with reporting the announcements and following up with comparing it to the actual report.  We will not update our spreadsheet, however, until the report is available.... If you would like to ensure that Arizona's Politics reports your campaign's announcement, please email it to the address listed on the top of this page.)

Arizona Rep. Ron Barber (D-CD2) was outraised in the 1st quarter by the high-flying Republican challenger Martha McSally, but has more in the fuel tank.  Barber's campaign reports cash on hand on April 1 of more than $1.2M.

Neither candidates' first quarter 2014 filing - due today - has been made available on the FEC website yet, but both have released some of their numbers.

McSally's campaign reported late last week that she had received more than $449,000 in contributions; the incumbent Barber's campaign states that they brought in $422,000.

McSally did not release cash on hand, but she "only" had $548,000 on January 1.  Barber started the quarter with $939,000 in the checking account.

Barber narrowly defeated McSally in the first regular election for each of them in 2012.  The re-match is expected to be one of the most hotly-contested in the nation.

While the candidatess fundraising is significant, the money raised and spent by the candidates to date - and, likely throughout the campaign - is going to be DWARFED by the amount spent on TV ads by outside groups.  Already, outside groups are running ads practically matching that dollar figure, hammering both Barber and McSally.


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