INDIANAPOLIS | Democrat Jill Long Thompson has stepped up her fundraising pace considerably since winning her party's nomination for governor two months ago, but Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels still has her outgunned.
State campaign finance reports filed Tuesday morning show Long Thompson raised nearly $1.6 million between April and the end of June and spent a little more than $1 million, leaving the former congresswoman's gubernatorial campaign with about $1 million on hand at the end of last month.
"We are extremely happy with these figures," said Travis Lowe, Long Thompson's campaign manager. "Not only are Jill's numbers on par with other nationally targeted races, the fact that we nearly matched an incumbent governor's fund-raising says a great deal about the strength of this campaign and Mitch Daniels' vulnerability."
Daniels, whose re-election coffers were flush with nearly $5.3 million at the end of April, raised $1.8 million the past three months while spending nearly $4.3 million. The campaign had $2.8 million in the bank at the end of June.
"Because so many Hoosiers are passionate about this campaign and keeping Indiana moving in the right direction, we're building a first-class grassroots operation and consistently setting fundraising records," said Daniels campaign manager Eric Holcomb. "Because we're frugal with the contributions of Hoosiers that fuel this campaign, we've been able to purchase our advertising months in advance at a considerable cost savings."
Daniels has been running ads on downstate television and on cable TV in Northwest Indiana since late March. The campaign spent $2 million on television and radio buys prior to the May 6 primary and put up $3.4 million in recent months to secure air time through the end of August.
Overall, the Daniels campaign spent $7.3 million in the first six months of the year, a 5-1 cash advantage over his Democratic opponent.
Long Thompson, who won a contested primary on a shoestring budget, stayed off the campaign trail for most of May and June while concentrating on fundraising. She more than tripled the $470,000 she raised in the first three months of the year, but Daniels still bested her by $234,000 the past three months.
