In a sign of growing Democratic strength in the Arizona battleground Legislative District (LD) swing districts, all of the Democratic candidates running in those areas outraised their Republican opponents in the second quarter of this year. In several instances, Republicans were outraised by substantial margins.
A press released by the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (ADLCC) relayed the second quarter fundraising results.
“On the heels of Democrats breaking Q2 fundraising records, yesterday’s fundraising reporting deadline uncovered that every single Democratic legislative candidate in key battleground districts has outraised their Republican opponents, some by a significant margin in Q2. On average, active Democratic Senate candidates raised 4.62 times what Republican candidates raised and House candidates raised 3.95 times what Republican candidates raised in battleground districts, as of the filing deadline.
Some Democratic candidates outraised their opponents by a significant margin, including:
- LD16 Democratic Senate candidate Stacey Seaman raised $30,932.04 compared to Republican Senator T.J. Shope raising $5,332.80.
- LD13 Democratic Senate candidate Sharon Winters raised $50,661.01 compared to Republican incumbent Senator J.D. Mesnard raising $14,051.
- LD13 Democratic House candidates Brandy Reese and Nicholas Gonzales raised about $75,000 each, compared to Republican incumbents Julie Willoughby and former incumbent Jeff Weninger raising $23,500 combined.
- LD2 Democratic Senate candidate Judy Schwiebert raised $166,358.88 compared to Republican incumbent Shawnna Bolick, raising $47,641 and Josh Barnett raising $2,240.20
- LD2 Democratic House candidate Stephanie Simacek raised $108,680.70 compared to Republican incumbent Justin Wilmeth and Ari Bradshaw raising less than $40,000 combined.
Other fundraising numbers include:
- LD4 Senate Democratic candidate Christine Marsh raised $140,392.45 compared to Republican opponent Carine Werner raising $81,683.26.
- LD4 House Democratic Candidates Kelli Butler raised $155,101.36 and Karen Gresham raised $146,083.77 compared to Republican opponents Matt Gress raising $113,123.61 and Pamela Carter raising $37,244.
- LD9 Democratic Senate candidate Eva Burch raised $68,281.06 compared to Republican opponents Robert Scantelbury raising $17,975.99 and Chris Stapley raising $2,180.
- LD 9 Democratic House candidates Lorena Austin raised $65,933.57 and Seth Blattman raised $64,896.03 compared to Republican opponents Mary Ann Mendoza raising $685 and Kylie Barber raising $12,596.33.
- LD16 Democratic House Candidate Keith Seaman raised $24,561.70 compared to Republican opponents Rob Hudelson ($14,671.43), Gabby Mercer ($8,769.63), Teresa Martinez ($16,597.93) and Chris Lopez ($16,950).
- LD17 Democratic House candidate Kevin Volk raised $146,539.11 compared to Republican opponents Rachel Jones ($20,785.28), Cory McGarr ($22,681.17), and Anna Orth ($42,113).
- LD17 Democratic Senate candidate John McLean raised $115,616.72 compared to Republican opponents Justine Wadsack ($14,641.78) and Vince Leach ($46,750).
- LD27 Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Howard raised $59,022.45 compared to Republican opponents Linda Busam ($10,891.10), Tony Rivero ($44,742.12), Lisa Fink ($11,272) and Brian Morris ($8,026.65). “
Several of the LD Democrats in these battleground districts offered their insights on their fundraising prowess in responding to requests to comment from Blog for Arizona.
LD 2 House Member and Senate Candidate Judy Schwiebert relayed:
“Whether talking to people at their doors or meeting with constituents who are donating to our campaign, people are telling me they want legislators who will work together on the important issues we face like increasing teacher pay, and addressing the water and affordable housing shortage crises. They are sick of a legislature playing politics and focusing on culture wars to divide us.”
LD 4 Senator Christine Marsh stated:
“Arizonans want a legislature that will protect reproductive freedom, invest in strong public schools, and ensure we have safe and vibrant communities, and they’re speaking with their wallets.”
LD 16 Senate Candiate Stacey Seaman responded:
I was so pleased when I saw the Q2 fundraising numbers. It is a tangible marker of what we’ve been seeing at the doors and hearing on the phones: people in LD 16 are ready for a change in leadership. I am proud of our entire team, and I look forward to continuing to show that working hard for a good cause is a winning combination!
LD 17 Senate Candidate John McLean commented
“We are attracting support from across the state. Voters understand that a change in the legislature is necessary so that we can pass bills to protect women’s reproductive freedom, support our schools, and steward our shared water resources. These are issues that affect all Arizonans regardless of what district they’ve been drawn into.”
LD 17 House Candidate Kevin Volk conveyed:
“I’m out almost every day to reach voters across our district, and I hit the 3,000-door milestone last month. What I keep hearing again and again from people is that they’re tired of divisive and ineffective politics, whether it’s in Washington or in Phoenix. People from all party affiliations agree that we need to move on from politicians who are obsessed with conspiracy theories. Donations blew past our stretch goal last quarter because people recognize we can do that in this race, and help bring the focus back on solving problems for Arizonans.”
LD 27 Senate Candiate Deborah Howard wrote:
“The success of these Democratic candidates in competitive districts, shows that the Republican candidates are not just out of step with voters and the real issues that impact our lives, but with donors as well. The chaos and conspiracy party is out of touch.”
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David –
You cited facts, both in your post and response to JGCK. Don’t bother. Facts don’t matter to him.
Of course he supports the convicted felon, etc. Truth doesn’t matter to him, only more GCs. And the letter after his preferred candidate’s name.
I am not saying it was misleading to report the fourth-quarter data, which suggests that Democrat candidates are running away in the fundraising competition. What I am saying is that your failure to mention the very significant fact that, at least, in the first two races that I looked at, the Republicans were easily raising far more money was very misleading. It is called cherry picking data and omitting context and it is not ethical. It is also disrespectful of the readers.
You really should be ashamed for writing this wildly misleading post that suggests that the swinging district Democrats are raising over four times as much money as the Republicans. I found that hard to believe, so I began to look at the actual Secretary of State fundraising site and if you look at the overall picture instead of the cherry picked snapshot of the fourth quarter you reported on, it shows an entirely different picture, at least for the first two races. I stopped checking after the first two races in utter disbelief of your dishonesty. Your references were totally different than reality and what you misled people to believe.
In LD 16, Seaman has only raised $42,680, while Shope has raised $188,868. Shope has $78,000 on hand now compared to Seaman’s $39,000. In LD 13, JD Mesnard has raised a total of $107,711 to Winters $58,748. Mesnard has $131,000 left to Winters $48,000.
Don’t you think you owe the readers of this blog the truth instead of the poorly-crafted propaganda that you spewed in this post?
John
The cited press release clearly refers only to quarter two. It does not make reference to quarter one. Before I forget, you still have not answered my question. Are you for the Republic or the convicted felon who was impeached twice, instigated an attack on the Capitol, and was found liable for sexual assault and business fraud. We eagerly await your reply. Take care.