The main contenders to succeed U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt are stocking up funds for the state’s wide-open August primary.
Based on campaign finance data from the beginning of January to the end of March, Senate President Pro-Tem Dave Schatz brought in the most money into his candidate account. That’s because the Sullivan Republican put another $1 million of his own money toward his election effort.
Not counting self-funding, Democrat Lucas Kunce raised the most money during the quarter — around $850,000. After spending more than $710,000, the Jefferson City native has about $942,000 of cash on hand. Because Democratic Senate contender Trudy Busch Valentine entered the contest late in the fundraising quarter, she didn’t file a campaign finance report.
Among the 21 Republicans who are seeking to replace Blunt, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler brought in the most non-self-funding donations into her candidate account with more than $497,000. That was more than Attorney General Eric Schmitt (about $480,000 raised), former Gov. Eric Greitens (roughly $378,000), Congressman Billy Long (about $215,000), Schatz (around $90,000 without his $1 million of self-funding) and Attorney Mark McCloskey (more than $70,000).
Schatz currently has the most money on hand with about $2.1 million, followed by Hartzler ($1.52 million), Schmitt ($1.3 million), Long (around $500,000), Greitens (more than $345,162) and McCloskey (a little more than $38,000). All of the major candidates have some sort of debt, including more than $2 million for Schatz, $250,000 for Long and more than $145,000 for Greitens.
But in many respects, the candidate fundraising totals don’t tell the entire story — because they don’t include political action committees that have been raising and spending money.
Schmitt’s Save Missouri Values PAC, for instance, raised more than $1.8 million during the fundraising quarter — and has more than $3.3 million of cash on hand after spending close to $900,000. Americans for Prosperity spent around $800,000 to boost Schmitt’s campaign.
Greitens’ Team PAC has nearly $1.7 million in the bank after spending more than $700,000. Hartzler has a joint political action committee with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley called Show Me Strong PAC that raised about $14,000 — and spent all but $75 during the fundraising quarter.
Missouri’s primary is slated for August 2.
Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
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