Moak's campaign cash nearing $1M

Steve Moak

Businessman Steve Moak’s latest fundraising report confirms he’s a top contender in the 10-way Republican contest for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District.

Moak has raised $824,000 in his efforts to secure his party’s nomination, his campaign announced July 12.

Of that amount, the Paradise Valley entrepreneur has put $293,000 of his own money into his campaign.

Ninety percent of Moak’s contributors were from Arizona, his campaign said.

“What I feel good about is that it’s Arizona voters and citizens supporting the campaign,” he told the Arizona Capitol Times. “What this money that we’ve raised allows us to do is make sure that we get to every voter in the district and they know about our campaign.”

According to a report to the Federal Election Commission, the Moak campaign has spent $441,000.

That still leaves him with a sizable amount – about $383,000 – to spend through the primary. That’s not counting funds he might yet raise. And as he’d already shown, the businessman is willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for his race.

Moak is promoting his business experience and hopes to capitalize on voters’ frustration with politicians to get his party’s nod. Moak said voters want people with his background, not career politicians.
Moak owned or helped start businesses that provided customer service centers for banks, telecoms and health care companies. In 2004, he acquired a company that specializes in home drug testing.
In a press statement, Moak also said voters want to see candidates who are invested in their own campaigns.

“I could not ask citizens to financially support me if I did not invest myself,” he said.

The businessman is the second 3rd Congressional District candidate to release his fundraising amount in the period running up to the second quarter of the year.

Jon Hulburd, the Democratic candidate, collected more than $750,000 this far.

U.S. Rep. John Shadegg announced early this year that he is retiring at the end of his current term.

The race to replace him is not just the most crowded in Arizona, it also offers a formidable cast of Republicans, including three former state legislators, a successful businessman, two former Valley mayors, and the former general counsel to the Arizona Department of Administration.

Besides Moak, the candidates are former lawmakers Sam Crump, Pamela Gorman and Jim Waring; former Paradise Valley mayors Vernon Parker and Ed Winkler; former Maricopa County health district board member Paulina Morris; attorney Ben Quayle, the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle; businesswoman LeAnn Hull; and professor Bob Branch.