Merkley surpasses Smith in quarterly fundraising

The Eugene Register-Guard
By David Steves
July 15, 2008

Republican Sen. Gordon Smith still has millions more than does his Democratic challenger, Jeff Merkley. But for the most recent quarter, it was Merkley who came out ahead.

Merkley reported Monday that he raked in $1.42 million from April 1 through June 30. That is by far the most Merkley has raised in a three-month stretch and represents more than half his fundraising since getting into the race last summer. And it surpasses the $1.38 million Smith raised in the same quarter.

In all, Smith still holds a sizable lead: $9.73 million raised and $4.47 million cash on hand for the entire election, compared with Merkley’s $2.5 million total raised and $569,435 on hand.

Both candidates’ quarterly reports are due today to the Federal Elections Commission.

Portland political consultant Gary Conkling said Merkley’s ability to best Smith in a quarter wasn’t all that startling, given that the incumbent already has stashed away millions of dollars even after running an aggressive ad campaign for the past two months.

Conkling said Merkley will need to continue his strong fundraising in order to overcome an obstacle any lesser-known challenger faces.

“He has to spend his resources from the standpoint of filling in the blanks for voters, and he has to do it as soon as he can before other campaigns can fill them in in a more negative way,” said Conk­ling, who is not involved with either campaign.

A Merkley spokesman, Matt Canter, said the strong quarter of fundraising in part reflected that donors are consolidating behind the Democratic nominee.

Canter said more important factors in Merkley’s favor include online fundraising efforts that have started to take off and that the Oregon race is rising in importance to those who want to help Democrats expand their Senate majority.

“There’s a lot of momentum in our fundraising operation and it’s really supported by the growth in our online contributions,” he said.

The Merkley campaign reported raising more than $420,000 online in the second quarter, double the previous three quarters combined.

Smith campaign spokeswoman Lindsay Gilbride said the quarter also was Smith’s strongest of the election cycle. Gilbride said Merkley’s slight edge in fundraising this spring wasn’t significant.

“Regardless of what Jeff Merkley raised this quarter, his financial gas tank, if you will, is still running on empty,” she said. “And his campaign is still being illegally towed along by national Democrats.”

Gilbride was referring to the more than $400,000 in advertising the Democratic Party has paid for recently on Merkley’s behalf. The advertising, paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Oregon Democratic Party, features Merkley talking about issues. Butbecause he wasn’t identified as a Senate candidate and was talking about issues, Merkley and the Democratic Party organizations have said the ads weren’t in-kind contributions to the campaign, but independent issue ads.

Smith and Republicans say the ads are contributions that violate limits on what the party can give a Senate candidate. Smith last week filed a complaint alleging that Merkley and the Democratic Party organizations have violated elections law.

Posted July 15, 2008
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