Have the big elephant belly dried up?
There are so
many Republican candidates running for the 1st congressional seat in
Alabama, and it’s hard to keep up with who is really running.
Several
Republican candidates have filed with the FEC to make a run for the soon to be
vacant seat in South Alabama. The congressional seat is being vacated by
Republican Congressman Jo Bonner, who is resigning in August to take a job in
Tuscaloosa at the University of Alabama where his sister is in charge. Many of the candidates have great ties to the
Republican establishment and party. Not sure which candidate is the true Tea
Party favorite, if any is? But this race is getting crowded even the more and
the money is beginning to come in.
The early
campaign fundraising totals is in and some may say that it’s off to a fast
start and some may say it’s too early. Well I have a different view of all
that, I say the Republican fundraising is off to a slow start; and I wonder
why?
In early
campaign finance reports, Republican Dean Young leads the Republican candidates
and Bradley Byrne follows. Dean Young's brought in $141,943 for his campaign so
far, which gave him the lead out of the five candidates who submitted campaign
finance reports to the Federal Election Commission. However, Young did not raise a total of
$141,943, a $129,500 of that report he loaned himself and not from fundraising.
Dean Young only raised a total of $12,443 for his congressional campaign. This Orange Beach businessman maybe leading
in campaign finance reports, but he is not leading in getting money from his
republican supporters.
Second to
Dean Young is Republican Bradley Byrne; Byrne led the field in terms of raising
money from outside contributions with a total of $75,882. Following Byrne is
Quin Hillyer bring in $62,779.00 and Chad Fincher with a showing of $45,890,
which Fincher also loaned himself $10,000.00. Jessica James a former State
School Board Candidate says he brought in $2,750.00. The other Republican
candidates and independents have not filed a report to show they have reached
the threshold required to report finances. Candidates are not required to
register with the FEC until they receive contributions or expenditures in
excess of $5,000.
It is clear
that all the Republican candidates have not raised much money, and could that
be because donors and friends are waiting to see who jumps in the race when
qualifying ends and the real race is one. Or maybe donors and friends are not
ready to give to a Republican candidate. Many are boosting the fundraising for
the Republicans, but it’s not a boosting moment because it’s not all that great
at the moment. With such a negative image on the Republicans and Washington,
voters, donors and friends maybe looking for something different, such as a new
candidate or a Democrat to run and support.
When the
next campaign report comes out we should be able to get a better look on the
fundraising for this race, but as of today the numbers are low and questionable
on where is the support and donors for the Republicans. Have the elephant belly
dried up?
