Friday, January 31, 2020

CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES: Schweikert, O'Halleran Show Dramatic Increases In Campaign Warchests

9:00pm: Schweikert, O'Halleran Show Dramatic Increases In Campaign Warchests

Our 5:10pm report below set out how much each of our Arizona delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives raised in the 4th quarter. That metric is good to show how hard they are fundraising and how successful all of those oft-annoying pitches have been. But, different candidates can spend far different amounts raising that money and running their early campaigns. So, perhaps more important at this point is how much each person has in the bank and how that warchest has grown or shrunk. With that in mind, here are the cash on hand numbers for our 9 Representatives.

O'Halleran, CD1: $574k to $919k
Kirkpatrick, CD2: $500k to $621k
Grijalva, CD3: $180k to $211k
Gosar, CD4: $202k to $223k
Biggs, CD5: $471k to $482k
Schweikert, CD6: ($43k)* to $82K*   (*COH less Debts Outstanding; explained in 2:35pm post)
Gallego, CD7: $680k to $755k
Lesko, CD8: $317k to $379k
Stanton, CD9: $460k to $616k

All incumbents saw an increase in their bank accounts. Obviously, Rep. Schweikert's is the most dramatic, but for the remaining eight not carrying substantial debts, Rep. O'Halleran's 60% increase is the most dramatic.

5:10pm: Challenger Tipirneni Outraises ALL 9 AZ Incumbents, Poses Threat In #AZ06
Hiral Tipirneni raised more money in the 4th quarter than any of Arizona's nine incumbent Representatives, and has 11x more money to spend than Rep. David Schweikert (R-CD6).

For the first time in Arizona's Politics' memory, all of Arizona's elected officials running for re-election filed their quarterly campaign finance reports more than 5 1/2 hours before the deadline. Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-CD1) led all House members with $450,000 raised; he is in a perenially competitive district covering much of eastern Arizona.

Bunched tightly for the 2nd-through-5th highest incumbent campaign receipts were Greg Stanton (D-CD9, $286k), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD2, $265k), David Schweikert (R-CD6, $256k), and Ruben Gallego (D-CD7, $253k).

Trailing the pack were two Reps in "safe" districts, which reduces the urgency to raise big bucks. Paul Gosar (R-CD4, $73k) and Raul Grijalva (D-CD3, $96k). In between those groups are Debbie Lesko (R-CD8, $142k) and Andy Biggs (R-CD5, $110k).

Incumbents typically have a tremendous advantage in raising funds. Which makes Tipirneni's haul of $459k in the 4th quarter all the more remarkable. She increased her bank balance from $600k to more than $900k in that three-month period.

As noted in the updates below, Rep. Schweikert led his campaign out of red ink in the last quarter of the year, but he only had $82,000 in his war chest on January 1. Legal fees have eaten almost $900,000 in his campaign funds.

It should be noted that Tipirneni does face Anita Malik in the Democratic primary. Both of them have run for Congress during the past few years, and have built up name ID. Malik has $46k in the bank.

3:05pm: Back In Black: Schweikert Campaign Bounces Back In Q4; More Legal Fees In Ethics Investigation
Arizona Congressman David Schweikert promised that his campaign would bounce back in 4th quarter fundraising, and he followed through. His campaign is back in the black after raising $256,000.


On the downside, his campaign continues to rack up legal fees in his ongoing ethics investigation. The committee reported more than $46,000 in new fees - incurred in representing not just him and his campaign, but also six staff members. This brings the total legal fees in less than two years to just under $900,000. ($898,520, to be exact.*)

The veteran Congressman's campaign bobbed underwater twice in 2019 - after the 1st and 3rd quarters - largely because of ongoing legal bills related to the ongoing ethics investigation. The debts owed by the campaign increased from $186,000 to $197,000 during the last three months of the year, but the checking account balance on December 31 shows $278,457. (In summary, he went from approximately $43,000 underwater on October 1 to $82,000 above water on December 31.

His $256,000 in receipts for the 4th quarter was the 2nd most in Arizona's Congressional delegation. (Tom O'Halleran raised $450,000.)
*In October, we reported that the campaign had incurred $869,000 in legal fees. We subsequently re-audited and determined that it was $852,000; the new total reflects that change.





2:35pm: Back In Black: Schweikert Campaign Bounces Back In Q4
Arizona Congressman David Schweikert promised that his campaign would bounce back in 4th quarter fundraising, and he followed through. His campaign is back in the black after raising $256,000.

The veteran Congressman's campaign bobbed underwater twice in 2019 - after the 1st and 3rd quarters - largely because of ongoing legal bills related to the ongoing ethics investigation. The debts owed by the campaign increased from $186,000 to $197,000 during the last three months of the year, but the checking account balance on December 31 shows $278,457. (In summary, he went from approximately $43,000 underwater on October 1 to $82,000 above water on December 31.

His $256,000 in receipts for the 4th quarter was the 2nd most in Arizona's Congressional delegation. (Tom O'Halleran raised $450,000.)

Here is a link to his filing; we will post it here shortly.

1:40pm: McSally Adds $2.0M To Campaign Warchest, $7.7M On January 1
The campaign committee for Senator Martha McSally added $2.0M to her warchest in the 4th
quarter, and brings $7.7M in cash into the election year. While spending $2.1M, she raised just over $4.0M for the 3-month period.  The comparable numbers for Democratic challenger Mark Kelly are below.

Because the report is nearly 5,000 pages long, we are only posting the summary pages. Here's the link for the rest. (Let us know if you spot anything noteworthy!)

1:10pm: Mark Kelly Campaign Takes a $13.6M Bank Balance Into 2020
The Mark Kelly campaign ushered in 2020 with $13.6M in its bank account(s) after a haul of $6.3M
in the final quarter of 2019. The former Space Shuttle Commander's campaign continues to be the best-funded Senate campaign in the nation, and is nearly twice that of incumbent Martha McSally's $7.6M cash on hand. (Kelly had $9.5M on hand going into the 4th quarter.)

Because the report is more than 14,000 pages long, we are only posting the summary pages. Here's the link for the rest. (Let us know if you spot anything noteworthy!)




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12:50pm: Pro-McSally SuperPAC Gets $258K Rebate From 2018 Campaign, Ready for 2020
The DefendArizona SuperPAC that spent $22.6M supporting Martha McSally in her 2018 Senatorial campaign received a nice boost last month, when it received more than $258,000 back from the media placement firm. 


DefendArizona received most of its 2018 money from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund. James Davis, the Chairman of New Balance, also made a $50,000 contribution to DefendArizona in August - in addition to maxing out to the McSally campaign itself.

DefendArizona kept its Arizona fundraising and media consultants (Lovas and Marson, respectively) on retainer during the off year. It goes into the 2020 contest against Mark Kelly with $337,499 cash on hand.


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