Davison gives $123,000 to his campaign

Davison gives $123,000 to his campaign

HELENA - Republican Pat Davison has poured $123,000 from his own pocket into his campaign for governor, using it to finance the bulk of a $160,000 advertising campaign during the past 2 months.

Campaign finance reports filed Monday with the state political practices office showed that, despite the infusion of personal money, Davison had only $9,600 left in the bank as of May 19, with about three weeks remaining before the June 8 primary election.

Meanwhile, Democrat Brian Schweitzer continues to lead all gubernatorial candidates in the money race, with $831,858 raised so far and nearly $433,000 remaining. Davison has raised $550,951 and fellow Republican Bob Brown has a total of $358,579 in contributions and almost $101,000 left to spend.

In contrast, Republican Ken Miller of Laurel has raised $48,816 and spent all but $8,320. A fourth GOP candidate, Tom Keating of Billings, did not file his report by Monday's deadline.

Schweitzer's Democratic opponent John Vincent of Bozeman, who did not enter the race until mid-February, has raised $36,527 and has about $26,000 remaining.

Davison, a business consultant, has spent a total of $541,344, including $232,851 between March 5 and May 19, easily eclipsing any other candidate. He listed $160,536 in advertising expenses during that time, with his personal money enough to cover three-fourths of that cost.

About $150,000 of his advertising spending went to a Washington, D.C., firm called Strategic Media Service.

The Davison campaign has $162,190 in debts, but that includes his personal loans to the campaign and those are seldom repaid to a candidate.

Brown's expenses total $257,704, with about 60 percent of that spending coming in the last 75-day reporting period.

Schweitzer, who has been running for about a year and half, continues to outraise every other candidate. He collected $103,000 in the latest period, or about $1,373 a day. He has spent nearly $400,000, while Vincent's spending totals $10,603.

In one of two contested Supreme Court justice races, incumbent Jim Nelson has a fund-raising lead over challenger Cindy Younkin of Bozeman. Nelson reported contributions of $114,291 and spent $21,122, while Younkin has donations of $92,551 and spending of $55,557.

Nelson has about $93,000 left over and Younkin has nearly $37,000, but because they are the only candidates, their campaigns continue to the November general election.

The same is true in the other high court race. Ed McLean, a district judge from Missoula, has raised $92,996 and spent $68,198. Brian Morris, who is state solicitor in the attorney general's office, has raised $83,550 and spent just $17,295.

Justice John Warner, running unopposed for the third court seat on the ballot, has raised $24,752 and spent $8,669.

In the Democratic race for secretary of state, Sen. Jon Ellingson of Missoula reported contributions of $58,309 and spending of $55,034. Opponent Bill Kennedy, a Yellowstone County commissioner, has collected $49,822 and spent $29,591.

Among the three Republican candidates for secretary of state, Todd O'Hair of Helena has raised $49,481 and spent $38,123. Rival Brad Johnson of Bozeman has raised $46,794 and spent all but $401, but he has largely financed his own campaign with $40,000 of personal money.

Bob Werner of Helena, the third GOP candidate, did not file a report.

John Fuller, a Kalispell teacher, leads Bob Anderson, a Fort Benton school superintendent, in the GOP race for state superintendent of public instruction. Fuller reported raising $9,094 and spending $5,355, while Anderson has raised $4,377 and spent $1,525.

On the Democratic side, incumbent Superintendent Linda McCulloch reported $49,859 in contributions and $16,877 in spending, and Clarence Kimm of Bozeman has raised $11,220 and spent $10,638. Kimm's personal money accounted for $9,921 of what he has raised.

Democratic incumbent John Morrison has a big money lead over Republican Duane Grimes in the race for state auditor. Morrison has raised $119,115 and spent $14,049, while Grimes has raised $26,549 and spent $10,466.