CD8 Fundraising: Giffords still has $1.3M on hand

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has raised nearly three times more money, has spent more than twice as much money and has continued to gather contributions at a faster pace than her Republican challenger.

Giffords raised $624,000 between Aug. 5 and Sept. 30, while Republican challenger Jesse Kelly pooled in $467,000 during the same campaign finance-reporting period.

The strong fundraising by Giffords’ campaign puts her in a far better position to control the airwaves during the next three weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 election. She had $1.3 million left to spend, while Kelly had $114,000.

John Ellinwood, Kelly’s campaign spokesman, said he wasn’t worried by Giffords’ cash advantage.

“Cash on hand is insignificant because we are spending the money as it comes in,” said John Ellinwood, Kelly’s campaign spokesperson.

Even so, Giffords has spent more than $2.4 million on the race, far more than the $922,000 spent by the Kelly campaign.

Giffords’ overwhelming financial edge over Kelly isn’t surprising. The incumbent Democrat has consistently proven to be adept at fundraising. She collected $3.3 million during her 2008 re-election campaign and $2.6 million when she first won the congressional seat in 2006.

Despite his fundraising disadvantage, Kelly has proven to be a strong challenger, as polls have shown he is within reach of the Democratic incumbent and national political experts have said the race is too close to call.

Kelly, a political newcomer with Tea Party leanings, upended former state Sen. Jonathan Paton in the Aug. 24 Republican primary election. Kelly’s victory surprised many political insiders who considered Paton, a political veteran, the favorite in the southern Arizona district.