By Christopher Conover and Andrea Kelly Arizona Public Media
Democrat Ron Barber has more cash on hand in the Congressional District 2 election than his opponents, the latest Federal Election Commission reports show.
Barber has money left over from the special election that got him to Congress last month, even after he spent more than $1 million on that campaign.
He can spend that leftover CD8 money on his campaign for a full term in the district, which is now called CD2.
Federally required financial reports for the three-month period of April, May and June 2012 show that Barber ended June with about $194,500 in cash. He spent nearly $1.2 million in the three-month period and raised $649,687.
Matt Heinz, Barber’s opponent in the Aug. 28 Democratic primary election, raised $33,755 in the same span, spent $68,527 and ended with $42,263. His report also shows about $3,000 in debt.
Heinz suspended his campaign during the CD8 special election after Barber announced he was running in that race.
Republican Martha McSally outraised Heinz, with $246,401. She spent $160,494 and has $134,570 in cash, with $6,217 in debt, her campaign finance report shows.
Like Heinz, McSally suspended her campaign after losing the Republican primary to Jesse Kelly in CD8 in April. In June she raised $102,637.
Republican Mark Koskiniemi’s congressional campaign has not filed a financial report since he began running for office in February. A report is not required unless a candidate plans to raise and spend more than $500 in calendar year.
Barber’s campaign finance reports correspond with different dates and are due on different deadlines than the other candidates because of the special election for CD8.
In order to compare his fundraising and spending with the other CD2 candidates whose recent reports reflect April through June finances, Arizona Public Media calculated Barber’s spending and fundraising during April, May and June.
His campaign spending is much higher than the others in the race, because he was ramping up his campaign for CD8, while the other candidates had months to go before primary Election Day, Aug. 28.
There is also a stark difference in the amount of money Barber, Heinz and McSally got from political action committees.
Barber got the committee money, with $255,649 from committees, 97 percent of which came from committees outside of Arizona.
Heinz did not take in any donations from PACs. McSally raised $32,750 from committees. Of that, 26 percent came from committees outside the state.
Barber raised $349,038 from individuals. Most of that, $324,726, came from Arizona residents. He received 932 donations of $250 or less, for a total of $133,735 smaller sized donations. He brought in $132,503 from 217 donations in the range of $251 to $1,000 each. He raised $127,800 from 56 donations that were $1,001 or more.
He raised $4,330 from 18 donations of $250 or less, $20,950 from 32 donors who each gave between $251 and $1,000, and $4,000 from three donations of $1,001 or more.
McSally raised $14,415 from 66 donations of $250 or less, $58,788 fro 85 donations in the middle amount, and $112,278 from 47 donations of at least $1,001 each.
Of the money McSally received from individuals, $142,000 was from Arizona residents. Arizona residents gave Heinz $22,800.
Read the candidates' campaign finance reports:
Ron Barber Matt Heinz Martha McSally
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