Morris raises $275K in crowded CD3 field

Congressional candidate Paulina Morris has raised about $275,000 in the crowded Republican race for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District.

Of the sum, about $146,000 came in the second quarter of the year, Morris’ campaign announced July 14.

Her campaign said they’re on track to where they want to be.

Chuck Coughlin, a consultant to the campaign, said Morris might not have the personal fortune or family network that other candidates in the race have, but he is comfortable with what she has raised.

“You know, if campaign contributions made candidates, Buz Mills would be king,” Coughlin said, referring to the northern Arizona businessman who dropped out of the governor’s race after spending $3.2 million.

“Getting a campaign contribution as she has done and getting the number of them that she’s got demonstrates to me that she is a credible and viable candidate in the district,” he added.

Morris, who served on the Maricopa County Healthcare District, is in a 10-way Republican primary.

Her campaign said nearly 90 percent of the money she raised in the latest period came from within Arizona, adding that is a “sharp contrast to other competitors in the race with long lists of Washington insiders.”

“I am proud that my support continues to come in where it matters most, District 3 and our very own state. We don’t need deep pocket interests from out of state dictating what we do in Arizona,” she said in a statement.

The race to fill U.S. Rep. John Shadegg’s seat is considered one of the primaries to watch in the nation. It is also the most crowded contest in the state.

Morris is positioning herself as the “traditional, conservative Goldwater Republican.”