Rand Paul And Jack Conway Spent Over $7 Million Each For Kentucky Senate Race. WOW!
Paul spent $7.5 million to win Ky. Senate seat
By BRUCE SCHREINER
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Republican Rand Paul's campaign raised and spent $7.5 million as the tea party favorite emerged from near political obscurity to win a U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky.
His Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, kept pace partly by dipping into his own bank account.
Conway loaned his campaign $650,000 and currently has no plans to raise money to recoup the amount he's still owed, $634,000, said Sean Riley, his campaign finance director. Campaign finance reports show loans from Conway to the campaign of more than $1 million, but Riley explained that Conway received partial repayments that he then plowed back into the campaign.
Conway's campaign spent $7.2 million in a losing cause, according to his post-election campaign finance report.
Paul, a Bowling Green eye doctor, won by double digits last month to succeed Republican Sen. Jim Bunning.
Total spending for the race didn't come close to the $30 million-plus spent by the two candidates in Kentucky's 2008 Senate race, when Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell defeated Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, a wealthy businessman.
University of Kentucky political scientist Stephen Voss said Friday that Paul's clear-cut advantage as the favorite, along with the high number of competitive races nationally, helped contain fundraising in the Kentucky race.
"Other than making Rand Paul a serious contender, I don't think money mattered much at all," he said. "It's a conservative state in a conservative election year. A Republican was almost certain to win that Senate seat."
Paul, a first-time candidate who portrayed himself as a political outsider, held a series of Web-based fundraisers that kept cash flowing to his campaign. He also capitalized on fundraising connections through his father, longtime U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a libertarian icon and former presidential candidate.
That proved especially crucial early in the GOP Senate primary campaign as Paul built his credentials as an advocate for steep budget cuts, low taxes and limited government who caught on with voters angry with federal bailouts and deficit spending. Paul defeated Secretary of State Trey Grayson, an establishment Republican, in the May primary.
"Normally a guy like Rand Paul would not have had any money," Voss said. "But because of the network he was able to tap, partly because of the growth of the tea party and partly because of his father's name recognition, he had the money to mount a serious campaign."
Paul's federal campaign finance report shows he collected nearly $7.6 million in contributions during the entire election cycle. His total receipts amounted to $7.75 million, which included money from other sources.
He collected slightly more than $1 million in contributions during the stretch run from mid-October until the Nov. 2 election - when he and Conway blanketed the airwaves with commercials.
Conway's report shows he received $6.2 million in total contributions and spent $7.2 million.
He bolstered his campaign with a series of transactions. Conway lent $525,000 to his campaign during the Democratic primary and was then repaid $275,000 by the campaign, Riley said.
That partial repayment was packaged as part of $400,000 in loans from Conway to his campaign during the general election season, Riley said. In October, Conway was reimbursed $100,000 that was raised to help retire primary debt, and Conway transferred the money back to his campaign.
Conway has been repaid $16,300 since the November election, leaving him out about $634,000. Conway was a Louisville attorney before his current job as state attorney general.
"At this point, the priority is raising money to repay vendor debt and bills that are outstanding," Riley said. "So at this point there are no plans to raise money to repay the debt to Jack."
The state Democratic Party currently has no plans to help Conway pay back the loans, said party spokesman Matt Erwin. The party did help cover some costs for Conway campaign events meant to help Democrats down the ticket, he said.
Conway took in more than $800,000 in contributions from mid-October to the election to help finance his campaign's final push. His campaign's total receipts amounted to $7.4 million.
Money spent by both candidates was only part of the equation, as outside groups poured cash into the race.
Paul was the main beneficiary, as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an alliance with ties to Karl Rove, the former adviser to President George W. Bush, ran TV ads portraying Conway as a liberal backer of President Barack Obama.
By BRUCE SCHREINER
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Republican Rand Paul's campaign raised and spent $7.5 million as the tea party favorite emerged from near political obscurity to win a U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky.
His Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, kept pace partly by dipping into his own bank account.
Conway loaned his campaign $650,000 and currently has no plans to raise money to recoup the amount he's still owed, $634,000, said Sean Riley, his campaign finance director. Campaign finance reports show loans from Conway to the campaign of more than $1 million, but Riley explained that Conway received partial repayments that he then plowed back into the campaign.
Conway's campaign spent $7.2 million in a losing cause, according to his post-election campaign finance report.
Paul, a Bowling Green eye doctor, won by double digits last month to succeed Republican Sen. Jim Bunning.
Total spending for the race didn't come close to the $30 million-plus spent by the two candidates in Kentucky's 2008 Senate race, when Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell defeated Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, a wealthy businessman.
University of Kentucky political scientist Stephen Voss said Friday that Paul's clear-cut advantage as the favorite, along with the high number of competitive races nationally, helped contain fundraising in the Kentucky race.
"Other than making Rand Paul a serious contender, I don't think money mattered much at all," he said. "It's a conservative state in a conservative election year. A Republican was almost certain to win that Senate seat."
Paul, a first-time candidate who portrayed himself as a political outsider, held a series of Web-based fundraisers that kept cash flowing to his campaign. He also capitalized on fundraising connections through his father, longtime U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a libertarian icon and former presidential candidate.
That proved especially crucial early in the GOP Senate primary campaign as Paul built his credentials as an advocate for steep budget cuts, low taxes and limited government who caught on with voters angry with federal bailouts and deficit spending. Paul defeated Secretary of State Trey Grayson, an establishment Republican, in the May primary.
"Normally a guy like Rand Paul would not have had any money," Voss said. "But because of the network he was able to tap, partly because of the growth of the tea party and partly because of his father's name recognition, he had the money to mount a serious campaign."
Paul's federal campaign finance report shows he collected nearly $7.6 million in contributions during the entire election cycle. His total receipts amounted to $7.75 million, which included money from other sources.
He collected slightly more than $1 million in contributions during the stretch run from mid-October until the Nov. 2 election - when he and Conway blanketed the airwaves with commercials.
Conway's report shows he received $6.2 million in total contributions and spent $7.2 million.
He bolstered his campaign with a series of transactions. Conway lent $525,000 to his campaign during the Democratic primary and was then repaid $275,000 by the campaign, Riley said.
That partial repayment was packaged as part of $400,000 in loans from Conway to his campaign during the general election season, Riley said. In October, Conway was reimbursed $100,000 that was raised to help retire primary debt, and Conway transferred the money back to his campaign.
Conway has been repaid $16,300 since the November election, leaving him out about $634,000. Conway was a Louisville attorney before his current job as state attorney general.
"At this point, the priority is raising money to repay vendor debt and bills that are outstanding," Riley said. "So at this point there are no plans to raise money to repay the debt to Jack."
The state Democratic Party currently has no plans to help Conway pay back the loans, said party spokesman Matt Erwin. The party did help cover some costs for Conway campaign events meant to help Democrats down the ticket, he said.
Conway took in more than $800,000 in contributions from mid-October to the election to help finance his campaign's final push. His campaign's total receipts amounted to $7.4 million.
Money spent by both candidates was only part of the equation, as outside groups poured cash into the race.
Paul was the main beneficiary, as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an alliance with ties to Karl Rove, the former adviser to President George W. Bush, ran TV ads portraying Conway as a liberal backer of President Barack Obama.
Labels: jack CONway, Rand Paul
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:25 PM
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