Dems are raking in the most funding

Republican rivals lagged behind in past 3 months

Arizona’s Democratic congressional candidates easily out-raised their potential Republican opponents in the past three months, especially in the races that figure to be most important in the fall.

Money doesn’t necessarily translate into electoral success. But it is one key sign of momentum, and it can’t hurt Democrats to have a financial edge.

While Democrats had the upper hand financially in three key House races, the state’s Senate race was a draw.

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally each reported raising $3.3 million. Sinema finished with $5.3 million in cash and McSally had $4.3 million.

Republicans Joe Arpaio and Kelli Ward did not disclose their fundraising numbers, which will be made public once they are processed by the Federal Election Commission.

Leading the way in the House races was Ann Kirkpatrick, the former congresswoman from Flagstaff who now is hoping to win her party’s nomination to represent the Tucson-based district currently held by McSally.

Kirkpatrick raised $478,000 and spent nearly as much between April and June. Even so, she still had $837,000 in cash heading into the final stretch of a crowded Democratic primary.

Three Republicans in that race combined for $227,000 in the quarter. That was little more than the Democrats competing with Kirkpatrick raised from their donors.

Former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton raised almost as much as Kirkpatrick in his bid to hold the House seat being vacated by Sinema. With no Democratic challenger, Stanton had $1.2 million in cash compared to $735,000 for Steve Ferrara, the closest Republican in the race.

And Tom O’Halleran, a first-term Democrat representing northeastern Arizona, raised $406,000, which was more than the $374,000 his three Republican challengers raised combined for the quarter.

The fundraising advantage was even greater for Hiral Tipirneni, the Democrat challenging Republican Debbie Lesko in a West Valley race for the second time this year. Tipirneni pulled in $283,000 compared to Lesko’s $131,000 for the quarter.

One Republican who could face a tougher re-election battle still had a commanding cash advantage: David Schweikert. The four-term congressman raised $319,000 in the last quarter and finished with $538,000 in cash.

Two of his three Democratic challengers raised a combined $166,000. There was no record for Garrick McFadden online by the Sunday night deadline.

Among O’Halleran’s potential Republican opponents, Wendy Rogers raised $177,000 in the past three months. Tiffany Shedd brought in $112,000 and Steve Smith raised $85,000. Kirkpatrick has several Democratic opponents, but only three managed to raise significant cash in the latest quarter. Matt Heinz, the 2016 Democratic nominee in that district, brought in $104,000 and loaned his campaign another $100,000. Mary Matiella and Yahya Yuksel each collected over $43,000.

On the Republican side, Lea Marquez Peterson collected $185,000 and loaned her campaign another $20,000. Brandon Martin raised $17,000.

In Schweikert’s district, Democrat Heather Ross brought in $123,000 and Anita Malik raised $42,000.

Democrats also had small advantages among the state’s safest incumbents. Rep. Ruben Gallego raised $176,000 and had $734,000 in cash in his bid for another term.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat, took in $118,000. Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar raised $110,000 and $82,000 respectively. None of them faced significant financial competition.

Money doesn’t necessarily translate into electoral success. But it is one key sign of momentum, and it can’t hurt Democrats to have a financial edge.