The final batch of mandatory weekly campaign finance filings shows Republicans continuing to outraise Democrats in all but two of the major statewide races with only a week to go until voters head to the polls on Nov. 6.
Republicans dominated Democrats in the races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state, though Democrats had one bright spot: the race for chief justice.
The Democrat also slightly outraised the Republican in the lower-profile race for state auditor.
Leading up to the election, candidates will need to file daily campaign finance reports if they meet the filing threshold.
Governor
Republican incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey remained in the fundraising lead this week, reporting $146,513.67 in cash contributions last week. Ivey’s Democratic challenger, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, reported raising only $45,576.
Ivey has maintained a strong fundraising lead over Maddox, thanks to a number of large contributions from business interests, though Maddox has regularly reported more unique contributions than Ivey.
This week, Maddox reported more than 159 different contributions, the majority of which were from individuals, while Ivey reported 79 contributions, many of which were from business interests and PACs.
Ivey’s largest contribution, $25,000, came from Science and Engineering LLC., a Huntsville-based defense contractor with operations in Columbia, Maryland, where the company’s research and development laboratory is located and where the contribution was reported. Maddox’s largest contribution, $10,000, came from a PAC operated by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Ivey finished last week with $222,796.04 in her campaign account. Maddox had $150,729.71 in cash on hand. Ivey spent $212,304 to Maddox’s expenditures of $62,325.
Lieutenant Governor
Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Will Boyd continues to be largely absent from the fundraising game. He reported only $180 in cash contributions last week, along with a $1,000 in-kind contribution.
Meanwhile, the Republican nominee, State Rep. Will Ainsworth, raised not only raised more than Boyd, but more than Maddox, too. He reported $84,424 in cash contributions last week, along with a major $50,000 contribution from the Alabama Power Employees State PAC on Oct. 23.
Boyd finished last week with $3,752 in cash on hand, while Ainsworth reported a bank account amassing a balance of $420,863 — the most of any major statewide candidate, largely because he hasn’t spent as mightily as other major statewide candidates.
He reported spending $38,016 last week.
Chief Justice
The race for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court — seen as one of the Democrats best chances at winning a statewide race — remains a bright spot for Democrats.
Bouncing back from a temporary flip in the race last week, Democratic candidate for the court, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance, reported raising $76,936 in cash contributions last week. That’s more than double what was reported by his Republican opponent, sitting Justice Tom Parker, who raised $24,400.
Parker did outspend Vance this week after outraising him last week. Parker reported expenditures of $133,268 to Vance’s expenditures of $77,610. Parker finished the reporting period with $68,278 in cash on hand, while Vance has $117,567 in his campaign account.
Attorney General
Thanks to a number of big PAC contributions last week, amounting to more than half of his total, Attorney General Steve Marshall nearly doubled the contributions of his Democratic challenger, Joe Siegelman.
Marshall reported $53,800 in cash contributions last week, $32,000 of which came from seven PACs. Siegelman reported $18,658 in contributions. Much like Maddox, Siegelman continues to report a higher number of individual contributors. All but one of Siegelman’s 109 contributions last week came from individuals. Marshall reported 35 contributions.
While Marshall outraised Siegelman, the Democratic nominee reported spending $25,243 last week, while Marshall spent only $2,658.
Marshall has more cash on hand, reporting an ending balance of $311,823 to Siegelman’s ending balance of $16,608.
Secretary of State
Republican Secretary of State John Merrill continued a fundraising lead over Democrat Heather Milam. Merrill raised $16,514 last week, outpacing Milam’s reported contributions of $5,670.
Merrill has far more cash on hand, too, reporting an ending balance of $221,686. Milam reported only $5,328 in cash on hand last week.
State Auditor
Continuing a low-profile back-and-forth between the two candidates in the race for state auditor, Republican State Auditor Jim Zeigler fell slightly behind Democratic challenger Miranda Joseph.
Zeigler reported $250 in cash contributions last week to Joseph’s reported contributions of $365. When counting in-kind contributions, Zeigler outraised Joseph.
Zeigler also outspent Joseph, reporting expenditures of $10,328. Joseph spent less than $300 last week.
Joseph finished the period with $3,024, while Zeigler finished the period with $2,167 in cash on hand.
