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Udall leads Schaffer in fundraising, cash

GOP's Wadhams says Dem's pace is unsustainable

Ed Sealover

Published July 16, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall scored the triple crown in second-quarter campaign funding by raising, spending and having more cash on hand than his opponent, according to Tuesday's finance reports.

Udall, a Democrat and Eldorado Springs congressman, outraised Republican Bob Schaffer by a total of $2 million to $1.4 million, but he also vastly outspent him, $2.3 million to $775,390.

With less than four months to go until the Nov. 6 general election, when Republican Sen. Wayne Allard's successor will be elected, Udall has $4 million to spend and Schaffer has $2.8 million.

Though the rush of spending is unusual this early, Udall spokeswoman Tara Trujillo said the campaign has accomplished what it wanted. Udall put up a statewide television ad campaign highlighting his renewable energy and military stances and has turned a 3-point lead in the polls to a 10-point lead over Schaffer since April.

"Our plan was to reach out early to Coloradans, and it shows," Trujillo said.

Schaffer campaign manager Dick Wadhams argued, however, that Udall is burning through money at an unsustainable rate, noting he spent almost $300,000 more than he raised from April through June. The $2 million cash-on-hand advantage the Democrat held over the former Fort Collins congressman in April has been cut almost in half by Schaffer, he said.

"The only thing that matters from here to the election is how much money you have in the bank, how many more bullets you have left to shoot," Wadhams said. "Even though he had a very good fundraising quarter, when you spend $2.3 million, it negates everything."

Udall Communications Director Taylor West was shocked at Schaffer's low total, saying she doesn't know how people can "invest in (a) candidate when he has been unable to show any sign that folks are responding to his message."

Wadhams questioned Udall's fiscal priorities, saying: "He votes for too much spending as a congressman and he spends too much as a candidate."

2nd Congressional District

The three Democrats looking to succeed Udall continue raising money in different ways, though they ended the quarter within $150,000 of each other in amount of cash they have on hand.

Entrepreneur Jared Polis brought in $3.2 million for the quarter - $3.1 million of that from his own pocketbook. The former state school board member drew $101,000 from individuals and $9,000 from political action committees but increased to $3.7 million the amount he has self-funded.

Former state Senate president Joan Fitz-Gerald raised nearly $423,000 this quarter, with 90 percent of it coming from individuals. That percentage was high for a woman who has raised more than nine times as much from political action committees as her two opponents combined.

Conservationist Will Shafroth, who pulled 98 percent of his more than $280,000 in donations from individuals, has brought in $1.3 million total for the campaign now, pleasing the self-described grass-roots candidate.

"I think that there is a threshhold that you have to get above to run a viable campaign, and I think we're well above that," he said.

The three face each other in the Aug. 12 primary.

Fitz-Gerald campaign manager Mary Alice Mandarich questioned whether Polis' self-funding would alienate voters struggling to pay for everything from gas to food. Polis campaign manager Robert Becker responded that no one has raised the issue with Polis, adding: "Maybe in Joan Fitz-Gerald's world, people can be bought, but . . . we're out there earning votes every day."

5th Congressional District

Incumbent GOP Congressman Doug Lamborn and businessman Jeff Crank were neck-and-neck in quarterly fund-raising, prompting Crank's campaign to call again for retired Air Force officer Bentley Rayburn to leave the Republican primary.

Lamborn raised $116,491 for the quarter and Crank $102,074, totals that both men celebrated. The first-year congressman holds more than a 2-to-1 advantage in cash on hand, but he also did not report the major media buys that Crank did on the latest reports.

Rayburn lagged behind the other two, bringing in $61,744 for the quarter. Crank deputy campaign manager Amber Glus said the total shows Rayburn cannot beat Lamborn and should drop out, while Rayburn campaign manager Mike Hesse said Rayburn will concentrate on grass-roots campaigning.

Maybe the biggest surprise in the district was the success of Democrat Hal Bidlack, who brought in $102,764 - more than Crank or Rayburn. Bidlack said he hopes the total shows he can compete in the heavily Republican area.

6th Congressional District

Secretary of State Mike Coffman raised $317,558, the third consecutive quarter that he has increased his fund-raising in the four-way GOP primary to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo.

Campaign manager Dustin Zvonek said the money will be important over the next month so that Coffman, rather than his opponents, can define himself.

State Sen. Steve Ward raised $39,165, leaving him with $11,980 on hand heading into crunch time. Campaign manager Christine Burtt did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

Businessman Wil Armstrong and state Sen. Ted Harvey had not filed campaign finance reports as of 7 p.m. Tuesday.

SealoverE@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5438. Reporter Lynn Bartels contributed to this article.

2008 federal campaign finance reports

U.S. Senate

Candidate Raised 1st quarter Raised 2nd quarter Spent Cash on hand

* Mark Udall-D $1.46 million $2.04 million $2.32 million $3.96 million

* Bob Schaffer-R $1.02 million $1.43 million $775,390 $2.82 million

2nd Congressional District

Candidate Raised 2nd quarter Spent Cash on hand

* Joan Fitz-Gerald-D $422,591 $286,189 $710,994

* Jared Polis-D $3.19 million $2.64 million $866,866

* Will Shafroth-D $280,918 $227,079 $735,930

4th Congressional District

Candidate Raised 2nd quarter Spent Cash on hand

* Betsy Markey-D $260,575 $80,148 $580,059

* Marilyn Musgrave-R n/a

5th Congressional District

Candidate Raised 2nd quarter Spent Cash on hand

* Jeff Crank-R $102,093 $127,363 $105,382

* Doug Lamborn-R $116,491 $47,490 $237,957

* Bentley Rayburn-R $71,785 $122,401 $62,049

* Hal Bidlack-D $102,803 $29,463 $77,472

6th Congressional District

Candidate Raised 2nd quarter Spent Cash on hand

* Mike Coffman-R $317,558 $419,642 $221,813

* Wil Armstrong-R n/a

* Ted Harvey-R n/a

* Steve Ward-R $39,165 $47,487 $11,980

* Hank Eng-D $81,759 $13,284 $81,231

Comments

  • July 16, 2008

    6:15 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LOUIE writes:

    Doesn't matter who you pick between these two, big money controls them both. If you think one evil is better than another evil, just remember they are both evil. Evil does the bidding of the big money in thier corners. Thus my friends are better than your friends, but the voter has no friends!

  • July 18, 2008

    2:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    BBFanatic writes:

    Irrelevance does not make intelligence, Louie. And it does matter who wins the senate race this time around. If Udall wins, it is likely that he will pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Which would re-consider the rules of union organizing to get rid of private-ballot voting. Meaning if an employer were to try to start a union, the voting process with the employees would not be secret. Thus leading employees to feel intimidated and a loss of privacy.

    I am not going to call Udall evil, because he certainly is not. But he does seem to be the one that will take away more of our rights - if he is elected and this is passed.