Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall posted his best fundraising quarter of the campaign, raising $2.7 million through Sept. 30, about $800,000 more than his Republican rival, Bob Schaffer.
Schaffer collected $1.9 million in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, his campaign reported. That brings to $6.6 million the total the former congressman has raised.
The financial disclosures were included in third-quarter reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Udall has so far raised just less than $10 million — and significantly increased his take each quarter — but spent that and more. Including a $1.5 million transfer from Udall’s congressional campaign account, the Democrat finished the third quarter with just $546,000 in the bank.
Schaffer, by contrast, finished the quarter with $2.7 million in cash on hand, after spending just more than $2 million during the period.
But the campaign has been on a buying spree since the Sept. 30 reporting deadline, said Dick Wadhams, Schaffer’s campaign manager.
“We’ve bought media through the election,” Wadhams said. “We have matched them dollar for dollar in terms of media time.”
Udall’s campaign said much of its spending went to the purchase of television ad time through Nov. 4, which means that the Democrat has already covered what is by far the most expensive line item of the campaign, according to spokeswoman Taylor West.
“We were able to reserve ad time early on at lower rates and for better placement,” West said, and those buys accounted for the majority of the $6.2 million the campaign spent in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, both candidates for the 4th Congressional District reported the best fundraising quarters of their campaigns, though by 7 p.m. neither had publicly posted their disclosures.
Republican U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave raised $605,000 in the quarter and had $790,000 on hand, according to campaign spokesman Jason Thielman.
Democratic challenger Betsy Markey raised $807,000 in the third quarter (July 1-Sept. 30), said spokesman Ben Marter. He said they had about $382,000 on hand.
Earlier this week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a letter signed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying Markey would soon be unable to afford television airtime.
Throughout her campaign, Markey has been bolstered by soft-money support from outside groups such as the DCCC, the environmentally focused Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund and Emily’s List.
While the groups do not coordinate with her campaign, they have produced a string of negative ads criticizing Musgrave.
Since Oct. 1 alone, those three groups have spent a combined $1.7 million on advertising, canvassing and mailers, Federal Elections Commission records show.
“We’ve been subjected to more mud, dirt and garbage from outside groups,” Thielman said. “They have outspent Marilyn’s campaign (nearly) 4 to 1.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee paid for one ad and part of another supporting Musgrave, Thielman said.
Since Oct.1, the only other outside money benefiting the Musgrave campaign was $194.30 the NRA spent on fliers opposing Markey.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
Campaign totals
Campaign finance reports due to the FEC Wednesday showed the following totals for Colorado’s contests:
U.S. SENATE
Bob Schaffer (R)
Money raised this quarter: $1.9 million*
Raised to date: $6.6 million
Cash on hand: $2.7 million
Personal contributions to date: $0
Mark Udall (D)
Money raised this quarter: $2.76 million*
Raised to date: $9.99 million
Cash on hand: $545,963
Personal contributions to date: $0
1st CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Diana DeGette (D)
Money raised this quarter: $93,987
Raised to date: $682,814
Cash on hand:$93,320
Personal contributions to date:$0
George Lilly (R)
Money raised this quarter: N/A
Raised to date: N/A
Cash on hand: N/A
Personal contributions to date: N/A
2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Jared Polis (D)
Money raised this quarter: $484,559
Raised to date: $6.9 million
Cash on hand: $195,404
Personal contributions to date: $5.67 million
Scott Starin (R)
Money raised this quarter: N/A
Raised to date: N/A
Cash on hand: N/A
Personal contributions to date: N/A
3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
John Salazar (D)
Money raised this quarter: $109,434
Raised to date: $1.22 million
Cash on hand: $590,482
Personal contributions to date: $0
Wayne Wolf (R)
Money raised this quarter: $6,636
Raised to date: $16,142
Cash on hand: $1,075
Personal contributions to date: $3,381
4th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Betsy Markey (D)
Money raised this quarter: N/A
Raised to date: N/A
Cash on hand: N/A
Personal contributions to date: N/A
Marilyn Musgrave (R)
Money raised this quarter: N/A
Raised to date: N/A
Cash on hand: N/A
Personal contributions to date: N/A
5th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Hal Bidlack (D)
Money raised this quarter: $86,913
Raised to date: $204,280
Cash on hand: $67,835
Personal contributions to date: $0
Doug Lamborn (R)
Money raised this quarter: $87,470
Raised to date: $565,642
Cash on hand: $17,952
Personal contributions to date: $6,075
6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Mike Coffman (R)
Money raised this quarter: $234,705
Raised to date: $1.1 million
Cash on hand: $157,668
Personal contributions to date: $100,000
Hank Eng (D)
Money raised this quarter: N/A
Raised to date: N/A
Cash on hand: N/A
Personal contributions to date: N/A
7th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Ed Perlmutter (D)
Money raised this quarter: 197,840
Raised to date: $1.67 million
Cash on hand: $615,721
Personal contributions to date: $0
John Lerew (R)
Money raised this quarter: $13,718
Raised to date: $21,217
Cash on hand: $5,833
Personal contributions to date: $9,993
Personal contributions data includes loans candidates have made to their campaigns.
*Includes pre-primary period from early July.
