Holden outspends McCaskill with cash to spare

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden outspent Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill and yet had 10 times as much money in the bank heading into the final month before the Aug. 3 primary elections, according to campaign finance reports released Thursday.

A McCaskill spokesman said the cash discrepancy was due partly to the fact the campaign already had paid for TV ads to run through the election; Holden's campaign said it has continued to buy ads since the quarterly reporting deadline of June 30.

Still, the financial reports reveal a significant advantage for Holden, who had raised more than $6.5 million for the campaign, spent more than $4.3 million and still had nearly $2.3 million on hand.

By comparison, McCaskill's campaign said it had raised $3.2 million for the campaign, including $875,411 in personal loans and about $500,000 carried over from her successful 2002 state auditor's campaign. McCaskill had spent just under $3 million and had $234,578 on hand as of June 30, the campaign said.

The finance reports were due Thursday with the Missouri Ethics Commission, which was slow in posting the electronically filed documents on its Web site. The campaigns independently provided their financial figures to The Associated Press.

Republican front-runner Matt Blunt raised a total of $4.3 million for the campaign, spent $1.7 million and had a little more than $2.5 million on hand as of June 30 -- an amount slightly higher than Holden.

Although Blunt also faces an Aug. 3 primary, none of his lesser-known Republican opponents had raised much money, nor had any of the other Democratic candidates.

Holden, in a prepared statement, touted that he had raised more than $1 million from over 2,600 donors during the period from April to June -- figures he described as a "flood of support."

"Their commitment drives me to keep fighting and remain diligent in my efforts to lead this party into victory in August and November," Holden said.

Fewer contributorsMcCaskill raised barely one-third as much from contributors -- $355,236 -- during the three-month period and loaned her campaign an additional $300,000. The low balance reflects that the campaign already had bought more than $1 million in television ads to run in the final days of the campaign, said McCaskill spokes-man Glenn Campbell.

"We have purchased enough TV that we will go toe-to-toe with the governor in what is a modern-day campaign all the way to the end of this election," Campbell said.

Meanwhile, an independent group called Missourians For Accountability raised $403,265 and spent $355,000 last month on TV ads supportive of McCaskill. The group showed just $23,248 on hand as of the end of June, but treasurer Jim Wirken said the group hoped to raise enough for another round of ads backing McCaskill.

Blunt's campaign, which raised $848,349 for the three-month period, pointed to the candidates' cash-on-hand figures as the most telling, noting that Blunt will have a financial advantage over whomever emerges as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

"What is going to be true is that the Democratic candidate ... is going to be at a substantial disadvantage going into the general election because of the way the Republicans have united behind Matt Blunt," said campaign spokesman John Hancock.

------On the Net:

Holden: http://www.governorholden.com

McCaskill: http://www.claireonline.com

Blunt: http://www.mattblunt.com