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U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell posted his biggest fundraising quarter since his first run for Congress, but Republican challenger David Schweikert narrowly topped his cash haul as the two moved into the final stretch of one of the state’s most hotly contested races.
Mitchell raised about $489,000 between Aug. 5 and Sept. 30, according to spokeswoman Melissa Hodgdon. She said it was his best quarter since he was elected to Congress and was surpassed only by one fundraising quarter during his 2006 race, when he first won Arizona’s 5th Congressional District.
Schweikert, however, pulled in $519,000. Campaign spokesman Oliver Schwab said six-figure contributions to Mitchell’s campaign from groups such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Education Association are signs that Schweikert has the two-term Democrat on the ropes.
Schweikert’s fundraising numbers may have been impressive, but the former Maricopa County treasurer’s war chest is nearly empty. Schweiker’s quarterly report to the Federal Election Commission was not yet posted on the agency’s website, but Schwab said he has little cash on hand due to a spate of media spots he pre-purchased before the end of the reporting period.
“I don’t (know how much cash is on hand), but I’d have to say that it’s pretty low because we’re buying media like crazy,” Schwab said. “But we’re raising it as fast we we’re spending it.”
Hodgdon said Mitchell had nearly $300,000 on hand as of the end of the reporting period. Mitchell’s fundraising report was not immediately available on the FEC website either.
“We have the funds to do what we need to do, so we’re not worried about his fundraising numbers,” she said.
At the end of the third quarter, Mitchell had raised about $2 million during the 2010 campaign cycle. Schweikert, the 2008 GOP nominee, had raised nearly $1.2 million.