Santa Fe – Republican Steve Pearce has a huge fundraising advantage over Democratic challenger Al Kissling going into the final weeks of the race for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District seat.
Pearce’s campaign reported a cash balance of $624,329 at the end of last month, while Kissling reported a deficit of $2,006, according to the latest financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Pearce, the incumbent, raised about $344,000 from July through September – bringing his campaign-to-date receipts to $1.3 million.
Pearce’s campaign reported expenditures of about $225,000 during the third quarter of the year and has spent nearly $955,000 so far this election cycle, which includes about $210,000 in loan repayments.
Kissling reported receipts of $52,330 from July through September. So far, his campaign has raised a total of $99,600 – including loans from the candidate – and spent about $136,000, including almost $73,700 during the third quarter.
Among the top contributors to Pearce’s campaign were political action committees of agricultural and energy companies.
Kissling loaned $6,000 to his campaign in September, bringing to $23,000 the total loans provided so far by the candidate.
The latest federal campaign-finance reports cover fundraising and expenditures from July through September.
In the 3rd Congressional District of northern New Mexico, incumbent Democrat Tom Udall reported a cash balance of $733,675 in his re-election account at the end of last month.
Udall raised about $70,100 from July through September, which brought his campaign-to-date receipts to about $422,200. His campaign spent almost $59,000 during the third quarter – for a total of $292,800 so far during the election cycle. Labor-union PACs contributed at least $11,000 to Udall’s campaign during the latest reporting period.
No campaign-finance disclosure covering the latest reporting period was available for Ronald Dolin, Udall’s GOP challenger, on the FEC’s website. Dolin’s campaign had a cash balance of $727 as of July 17, according to a previous report.
In the Albuquerque-area 1st District, Republican incumbent Heather Wilson received more than $1 million in contributions from July through September. Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid collected nearly $687,000 in contributions.
Among the top donors to Wilson’s campaign were a host of business and trade-association PACs.
Labor-union PACs were among the top donors to Madrid’s campaign, giving at least $49,000. Madrid collected $84,189 through Emily’s List, a group that backs women running for office who support abortion rights.
Nearly $103,000 in contributions by individuals and other political groups were directed to Madrid’s campaign through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
