Governor candidates raise $5M for primary 10/13/2009 7:23 PM By JIM DAVENPORT Associated Press
COLUMBIA -- South Carolina's Democrat and Republican candidates for governor already have raised almost $5 million for their bids for the state's highest office and spent nearly $763,000 in primary contests that will play out in June, according to campaign finance reports.
For the state's biggest campaign fundraisers, that's meant a lot of catering to get donors to open wallets and writing even bigger checks to political consultants, the reports show.
The totals don't include reports from Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley, who has not filed one since Saturday's deadline, or Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who won't declare his bid for governor until the end of the month. Haley's spokesman did not return multiple calls and Bauer said a report for his re-election campaign was being prepared.
For now, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett is leading the money-raising and spending race in the GOP primary, despite Attorney General Henry McMaster's remarkable $1.1 million report of donations gathered in his first quarter as a declared candidate. Meanwhile, Democrat Sen. Vincent Sheheen of Camden has raised $735,646, including $229,085 for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, and has $627,724 on hand.
Sheheen in February and Barrett in March were the first candidates to enter the race and begin raising money. Getting an early start matters, Sheheen spokesman Trav Robertson said.
"There's no question about it. Fortunately or unfortunately, campaigns start earlier," he said.
McMaster's million-dollar quarter also shows the role money raised for previous races is playing in state politics and particularly the governor's race. McMaster, Barrett and other candidates can ask donors to transfer cash from existing re-election campaign accounts if they get the donor's written permission. McMaster and Barrett have been working for months to make that happen and it all has to be documented for the Ethics Commission and the public.
McMaster considers all the transfers new cash for his governor's race, even though some of the money has been in his attorney general account since 2007. The campaign said it would provide details of how much was transferred later Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the $328,000 Barrett has transferred from his U.S. House campaign accounts for a fifth of the $1.7 million his gubernatorial campaign has gathered since March.
Sheheen's total included $3,450 transferred from his Senate re-election account.
Other candidates primed campaign accounts with their own cash. Republican Sen. Larry Grooms of Bonneau borrowed $260,000 during the quarter and reported he has $300,110 in cash on hand.
Sheheen and Education Superintendent Jim Rex were the only Democrats who didn't borrow or put their own money into campaigns.
Rex began raising money in August and reported $81,515 in contributions with $44,413 on hand. Rex campaign director Zeke Stokes doubts Rex will put any personal money into the race. "He's going to have to raise every dime he gets for this campaign," Stokes said.
Charleston lawyer Mullins McLeod borrowed $100,000 and Charleston Sen. Robert Ford borrowed $25,000 while Columbia lawyer Dwight Drake donated $50,000 to his bid.
The borrowing shouldn't be seen as a shortcoming, McLeod campaign adviser Lachlan McIntosh said. "He's making a contribution to his campaign just like other candidates have," McIntosh said. McLeod raised $110,778 and has $318,690 on hand.
Drake, who raised $188,795 in the quarter, wasn't far behind Sheheen after entering the contest two months ago. With the $50,000 in personal cash he chipped in, he has $230,578 on hand. "I am elated that my friends - the people who know me the best - have been so supportive," Drake said.
Candidates haven't hit the heights of their spending yet. That'll come next spring as they raise their visibility with TV, radio and print advertisements while they stuff mailboxes with slick mailers.
But Barrett already is setting a pace for spending. He's spent $334,313 on the race since March and all the other Democrats and Republicans combined have spent $428,576.
Where's that kind of cash go so early in a race? It fills donor's stomachs to open their wallets and pays political consultants. Barrett spent $23,280 in the third quarter on catering and $20,000 on fundraising consultants. But he also paid his political consultants $59,784, and his staff's pay and taxes as well as travel reimbursements cost $41,531.
McMaster was spending fast, too, with $88,696 paid out since August. That included $38,231 for two political consultant shops and $11,695 for catering and drinks.
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Posted by: JW On: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:35 PM
Comment Title: $5,000.000!
Why don't we have one day of debates and no ads. Send the money to create jobs or fix the infrastructure. Do you thing George Washington put up signs all over the Country to vote for him. We all know the guy with the most money wins so lets level the palaying field and keep ther lousy ads off the poles.
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