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Posted on Fri, Oct. 16, 2009

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GOP candidates report campaign finances

BY DION LEFLER

The Wichita Eagle

Thursday was busy for local congressional candidates as Rep. Jerry Moran extended his fundraising lead over Rep. Todd Tiahrt in the race for U.S. Senate and state Sen. Dick Kelsey released a poll showing himself leading the race for Tiahrt's old seat.

Midnight Thursday marked the deadline for candidates to turn in their campaign finance reports. In the 4th Congressional District race, most candidates seemed to be waiting until the deadline, with only two candidates — Kelsey and businessman Wink Hartman — filing in time for federal officials to post the results by the end of the business day.

In the Senate race, fundraising results obtained by the Associated Press showed Moran, R-Hays, holding more than twice as much cash on hand over Tiahrt, R-Goddard.

The AP reported that Moran has amassed $3.4 million in funds; Tiahrt had about $1.4 million on hand.

For the July-September quarter, Moran said he raised more than $520,000 while spending a little more than $181,000. Tiahrt reported raising more than $341,000 and spending $353,500 for the same period, the AP reported.

The pair are locked in a heated race for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, who is leaving the Senate to run for governor.

The only Democrat to declare so far, retired media executive Charles Schollenberger of Prairie Village, filed his candidacy papers after the reporting period and is not yet required to report his fundraising.

In the race for the 4th District, Kelsey released results of a poll commissioned by his campaign that showed him with a narrow lead over Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, for the top spot in a five-way Republican primary.

The poll also showed it remains anybody's race with 49 percent of voters undecided or declining to state a preference.

The survey of 351 likely Republican primary voters showed Kelsey with 17 percent and Schodorf with 15 percent. Hartman, a late entrant into the race, was third with 8 percent.

Republican National Committeeman Mike Pompeo was fourth at 6 percent and Jim Anderson, a small-business owner and retired airline pilot, had 4 percent.

The poll has a margin of error of 4.35 percentage points.

Kelsey's campaign finance form showed that he had raised $8,726 in the July-September quarter. To now, he has largely been self-funding, lending his campaign $222,500 of his own money.

Kelsey has spent heavily on television and radio, including a radio spot highlighting his endorsement by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the Kansas Republican Party caucus for president last year.

Kelsey's report indicated expenditures of more than $153,000 total.

Hartman proclaimed himself off to a "fast start" in the campaign with $18,375 in contributions for the July-September period and $16,045 cash on hand.

The Hartman campaign noted that it had only 14 days to raise funds between the announcement of his candidacy and the closing of the reporting period and that the donations represented more than $1,000 a day.

Hartman is believed to be able to self-fund if necessary. He owns an oil company, restaurant and real estate interests, the Wichita Wild football team and the Hartman Arena, where the Wild plays its home games.

It appeared unlikely Thursday that any of the GOP candidates would match state Rep. Raj. Goyle, D-Wichita, in fundraising. Goyle announced early this week that he had brought in $403,000 in donations in the quarter.

Retired court services officer Robert Tillman has announced he's seeking the seat, but has not yet filed to run.

Pompeo raised the most money of any of the candidates in the April-June fundraising cycle, nearly $253,000. He announced Thursday evening that he received another $98,563 in contributions in July-September, bringing his total to $351,460 from more than 400 donors.

Reach Dion Lefler at 316-268-6527.