Whitehouse flush with campaign cash
2006-10-27
Source: Providence Journal
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rss feedThe Sheldon Whitehouse campaign has a 6-to-1 advantage in cash on hand for the home stretch of the U.S. Senate race, according to financial disclosure forms filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission.
For the reporting period that ended Oct. 18, Whitehouse reported having $984,000 in the bank; his opponent Sen. Lincoln Chafee had $152,000. Yesterday's filings are the final public financial disclosures required of federal campaigns before the Nov. 7 election.
And while the numbers are the most current available, they're not a complete representation of how much money each campaign has to spend in the race's waning days. A development in the race late last week - after the Oct. 18 end of the reporting period - will inflate the cash numbers for both sides.
The Chafee campaign would have actually been about $50,000 in the red at the end of the reporting period had the Republican incumbent senator not dipped into his personal fortune to loan himself $200,000, which is included in yesterday's numbers. And Chafee gave his campaign another personal loan last Friday - two days after the end of the reporting period.
Chafee's $500,000 total contribution to himself last week also opened a new pot of money to his opponent by triggering a provision in federal election law known as the Millionaire's Amendment. It was adopted in 2004 to prevent wealthy candidates from having an unfair financial advantage in expensive races.
The provision allows hundreds of Whitehouse donors who previously maxed out at $2,100 to give an additional $4,200. And those who haven't given anything can contribute up to $6,300 - three times the normal limit.
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