Gallego’s Senate campaign collected $3M this summer
U.S. Senate hopeful Ruben Gallego’s campaign raised about $3 million between July and September, a figure similar to what he collected in earlier quarters, when it was among the betterfunded Democratic operations nationally.
Once again, the Gallego campaign said it relied on small-dollar donors, with a $28 average contribution from 106,000 donations. Nearly all of them gave less than $200, the standard for public disclosure of the donors, and well short of the limits on what they can provide to Gallego’s campaign.
Gallego ended the quarter with $5 million in cash, the campaign said.
Gallego, D-Ariz., is the first prominent figure in Arizona’s closely watched and still-evolving Senate contest to offer a glimpse of his third-quarter fundraising. It is a period that includes a stretch when Gallego stayed home with his newborn child. Formal reports for all candidates aren’t due until Oct. 15.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., whom Gallego hopes to replace in Washington, has yet to formally declare her candidacy or report her fundraising for the latest period.
“Since this campaign launched nine months ago, hundreds of thousands of small-dollar donors have chipped in what they could because they believe hardworking Arizona families need Ruben Gallego fighting for them in the U.S. Senate,” said Nichole Johnson, Gallego’s campaign manager, in a written statement. “Thanks to our dedicated base of grassroots supporters, it’s never been more clear that we’re the only campaign in this race that is built to win.”
Among the information still unreleased is Gallego’s campaign expenses.
In the first six months of the year, the campaigns for Gallego and Sinema raised money in opposite ways. While Gallego relied on many small-dollar donors, Sinema relied on a relatively small number of large-dollar donors.
Through June, Gallego had raised $6.9 million compared to her $3.8 million, federal records show.
But she maintained her accumulated cash advantage over him, based on prior savings and lower campaign expenditures throughout the year. At mid-year, Sinema had $10.8 million in available cash, while Gallego reported $3.8 million.
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is the only prominent Republican in the race at this point, though that is set to change next week, when former Phoenix TV news anchor Kari Lake officially kicks off her long-expected Senate run. Lamb entered the race in April and raised just $608,000 in his first quarterly report, spanning April through June. He finished with $335,000 in cash.
That did little to discourage Lake from entering the race. She has not yet formally done so and won’t report her campaign’s finances until after the quarter ends in December.