Is George LeMieux's Florida Senate campaign in trouble?
10/25/2011
First the good news for George LeMieux. Crowley Political Report took a look at what LeMieux and his Florida U.S. Senate race rival - Adam Hasner - reported in their most recent campaign finance statements to the Federal Election Commission.
The most important numbers, at this point in a campaign, are always in the cash-on-hand column. Far too often a candidate who raised lots of cash early the campaign, squanders it on all sorts of things that are profitable for consultants but leave the candidate broke in the final weeks of a campaign.
(Details from the FEC reports are below)
LeMieux appears to be doing fine. He has raised $1.35 million and his cash-on-hand as of Sept. 30, was just bit more than $1 million.
Hasner has raised $1.1 million but his cash-on-hand is just $785,000.
Yes, I know, you have to spend money to make money. And groundwork is being laid, blah, blah, blah.
So that's the good news for LeMieux. He has managed to hang on to most of the money he has raised.
But the FEC report also suggests that LeMieux's campaign is having problems. He raised less money than Hasner in the three months ending Sept. 30. LeMieux raised $403,000, while Hasner collected $535,000.
What does this mean?
LeMieux may be in trouble. As a former U.S. Senator, appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist, LeMieux should have a wide network of folks ready to write a check.
Apparently he does not.
In addition, Hasner appears to be building momentum for his campaign among the hard-core right who are the same folks that are most likely to vote in the August 2012 primary.
Those voters continue to choke on the fact that LeMieux and Crist were once joined at the hip. And LeMieux's effort to distance himself from Crist is a tough sell.
Hasner, meanwhile, is pushing so hard to the right that his left hand wants nothing to do with him.
It is still very early in the campaign cycle and anything can happen. LeMieux hasn't lost but his campaign clearly needs to adjust to the fact that Hasner is a serious competitor.
Below are more details from the FEC reports. You'll also find the same information for Mike McCalister whose fundraising is very lackluster.
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Adam Hasner
| Total Receipts: | $1,100,358 | ||||||
| Transfers From Authorized Committees: | $0 | ||||||
| Individual Contributions: | $1,080,333 | ||||||
| Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Committees: | $20,025 | ||||||
| Contributions from Party Committees | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Contribution: | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Loans: | $0 | ||||||
| Other Loans: | $0 | ||||||
| Total Disbursements: | $314,639 | ||||||
| Transfers to Authorized Committees: | $0 | ||||||
| Individual Refunds: | $500 | ||||||
| Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Refunds: | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Loan Repayments: | $0 | ||||||
| Other Loan Repayments: | $0 | ||||||
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George LeMieux
| Total Receipts: | $1,354,516 | ||||||
| Transfers From Authorized Committees: | $0 | ||||||
| Individual Contributions: | $1,236,123 | ||||||
| Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Committees: | $116,500 | ||||||
| Contributions from Party Committees | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Contribution: | $1,850 | ||||||
| Candidate Loans: | $0 | ||||||
| Other Loans: | $0 | ||||||
| Total Disbursements: | $331,435 | ||||||
| Transfers to Authorized Committees: | $0 | ||||||
| Individual Refunds: | $3,000 | ||||||
| Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Refunds: | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Loan Repayments: | $0 | ||||||
| Other Loan Repayments: | $0 | ||||||
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Mike McCallister
| Total Receipts: | $94,655 | ||||||
| Transfers From Authorized Committees: | $0 | ||||||
| Individual Contributions: | $83,155 | ||||||
| Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Committees: | $0 | ||||||
| Contributions from Party Committees | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Contribution: | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Loans: | $11,500 | ||||||
| Other Loans: | $0 | ||||||
| Total Disbursements: | $18,711 | ||||||
| Transfers to Authorized Committees: | $0 | ||||||
| Individual Refunds: | $0 | ||||||
| Non-Party (e.g. PACs) or Other Refunds: | $0 | ||||||
| Candidate Loan Repayments: | $0 | ||||||
| Other Loan Repayments: | $0 | ||||||
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