Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Boozman reports raising $1.1 million
Campaign’s cash-on-hand total now at more than $2.5 million
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s campaign said it raised more than $ 1.1 million over the first three months of this year as the incumbent seeks reelection and looks to fight off Republican opponents in this year’s primary election.
The campaign said the first-quarter haul brought its cash-on-hand total to more than $2.5 million at the end of March. Boozman, in a statement, said he’s “humbled at the outpouring of support.”
“A red wave is coming, and this election season provides hope,” he said in the statement. “When Republicans reclaim the majority, Arkansans know I am in the best position to advance the conservative, pro-family, pro-freedom values they care about.”
Boozman, who is running for a third term in the U.S. Senate, is the top GOP lawmaker on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
“Now more than ever, we are all feeling the consequences of the Biden administration and the radical left’s agenda,” he said in the statement.
The Re - publican senator is facing GOP primary challenges from Jan Morgan, a gun range owner, and Jake Bequette, a former NFL player and former Arkansas Razorback football player.
The Republican primary opponents will face off in next month’s primary election.
The first quarter of this year covers January, February and March. It ’ s the third straight quarter that Boozman’s campaign committee reported pulling in about $1.1 million.
The Boozman campaign’s cash-on-hand total is smaller than the $3.51 million war chest it reported at the end of last year. But at that time, the campaign was widely outpacing its GOP competitors on the fundraising front.
Morgan’s campaign reported having a cash-on-hand total of just under $60,000 as of Dec. 31, while Bequette’s campaign reported having more than $411,000 available at that time.
The Morgan and Bequette campaigns didn’t provide early access to their first-quarter campaign filings. The Federal Election Commission filing deadline is Friday.
Bequette’s campaign has also seen help from out of state.
The Arkansas Patriots Fund, a super PAC funded by an out-of-state political donor, spent more than $841,000 earlier this year on a television and cable media buy in support of Bequette’s run, according to an FEC filing.
Dick Uihlein of the packaging supply company Uline poured $ 1 million into the group last year, according to available FEC files. Uihlein’s contribution was tied to a Wisconsin address, according to an FEC filing.
Meanwhile, Boozman is embracing an endorsement from former President Donald Trump as he navigates Arkansas’ primary season.
Multiple Boozman campaign advertisements mention Trump’s endorsement, and campaign emails tout the Republican as the “Trump endorsed senator.”
Both U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders, two top GOP figures in the state, have endorsed the incumbent as well.
Cotton, a strict conservative, has also appeared in an advertisement for Boozman, urging people to vote for the senator.
“In Washington, I depend on John Boozman. We work as a team,” Cotton says in the advertisement.
“John Boozman fights to secure our border. He fights to protect the unborn. He fights to stop Biden’s crushing inflation,” Cotton says in the video.
Arkansas’ primary election will take place on May 24. Early voting in the primary starts May 9.
A candidate must win 50% of the tally plus one vote to win outright a primary race in their party, said Chris Powell, a spokesman for Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston.
If no candidate reaches that threshold, the two candidates with the most votes move on to a runoff election, he said. In a runoff, voters choose between the top two candidates to decide who will represent the party in the general election.
Arkansas has what’s called an open primary, which means voters do not have to register with a party affiliation to vote in a primary election. However, if a runoff election occurs, voters must cast their ballot with the same political party in which they voted in the primary, Powellell said.