Fundraising

Very bad news for Sarah Steelman, the alleged "heavyweight" candidate we were told was one of "the top GOP gets" in the entire country: 

Sarah Steelman raised about $200,000 for her U.S. Senate campaign during the past few months but spent all of it — and more.

Steelman's quarterly finance report shows receipts of about $200,600 from April 1 to June 30 and disbursements of about $213,000. As a result, Steelman ended the period with a little less money in her bank account than she began...

McCaskill raised nearly $1.4 million and had about $2.8 million in her campaign account as of June 30. Akin reported raising more than $500,000 during the period with $1.2 million in his account.

Steelman reported having about $181,000 in her campaign account at the end of June.

Sarah Steelman, the "heavyweight," "top-flight" candidate who was allegedly one of "the top GOP gets" in the entire country,  tops the list of losers in The Fix's first quarter fundraising tipsheet.

The 2012 election cycle is officially one-eighth over, after candidates across the country filed their first quarter fundraising reports Friday.

The numbers don’t mean nearly as much as the amounts these candidates will raise later on in the cycle, but they do provide early indications about which incumbents and candidates are raring to go and who is leaving him or herself open to defeat next year...

Senate losers: If there are winners, there are also losers, of course. Topping the list is former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman (R), who pulled in just $186,000 and risks losing her status as the presumptive GOP frontrunner to face Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). Meanwhile, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), who isn’t in the race yet, pulled in $459,000 for his House account – a strong signal that he will run, given that he normally doesn’t raise anywhere near that amount.

Despite promises from Sarah Steelman spokesperson Politico reporter/pundit Dave Catanese that Sarah Steelman is a "heavyweight" candidate running as one of "the top GOP gets" in the entire country, she barely topped Ed Martin's anemic fundraising total for the first quarter.

Former Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman delivered the most underwhelming first quarter campaign finance report of any top flight Republican running for Senate.

Steelman raised just $186,000 during the first three months of the year, leaving her only $193,000 in the bank, according to a GOPer with knowledge of the cash on hand total.

The numbers, dropped late Friday evening, reveal that Steelman only bested former congressional candidate Ed Martin by about $24,000 during the time period.  Even more troubling for Republicans:  It leaves her trailing vulnerable first-term Sen. Claire McCaskill by a whopping $1.6 million in the dash for cash.

Martin reported raising $162,000 between January and the end of March and McCaskill took in $1 million.

Ed Martin emailed supporters today to inform them that he'd only raised $162,000 in the first quarter of 2011 for his U.S. Senate Race. Sen. Claire McCaskill announced today that she raised more than $1M during the same reporting period, and now has almost $1.8 million on hand.

By way of comparison, Roy Blunt raised $542,000 in the first quarter of 2009.  

No word yet on how much of that total will be allocated for disgruntled employees he stiffed in his last campaign.

The Fix: "Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's (D) Senate campaign will announce $2.1 million raised in the third quarter, a campaign source tells The Fix, bringing it near parity with Rep. Roy Blunt's (R) more than $2 million raised. Outside groups are spending heavily for Blunt, but this remains arguably Democrats' best pickup opportunity."

Paul Singer in 2007

Blunt, along with six other GOP senate candidates, were the guests of honor at the February 24 event.  A total of $1,240,908 was raised into the committee and then distributed to Blunt, Kelly Ayotte (NH), Jane Norton (CO), Rob Portman (OH), Marco Rubio (FL), Rob Simmons (CT) and Pat Toomey (PA).

Lobbyist and Roy Blunt campaign manager Andy Blunt, James Harris and several others are raising money for Peter Kinder tonight at Summit Lake Winery in Holts Summit.

At last count, Kinder's gubernatorial campaign was still $315,000 in debt, he was still raising money for the Tour of Missouri, and is now seeking money to fill the coffers of his new LLC.  So take your checkbook!

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson is telling DC donors about the threat from Democratic challenger Tommy Sowers in invitations for an upcoming event at a downtown DC steakhouse. 

Tommy Sowers – my Democratic opponent – spent 11 years in the U.S. Army, including an assignment as a Special Forces officer in Iraq. He returned to the states and taught at the U.S. Military Academy before recently retiring from the Army. I honor his service to our country.

He appears to be an aggressive campaigner and fundraiser. I am ready for the challenge. Let the superior candidate with the better agenda win.

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The Roy Blunt campaign says it isn't fazed by yesterday's news that Blunt was a "Top Congressional Partier" in 2009.  Try not to laugh when reading this sentence in a story about the designation by The Beacon's Jo Mannies:

Blunt's campaign says his packed public schedule illustrates that he's far more accessible to the public than his likely Democratic rival, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer says it's all that time Blunt spends with the public that's landed him on the list of Top Partiers. But as Blunt and Chrismer know (or should) the events in the Sunlight Foundation database are high-dollar fundraisers -- and exactly zero of Blunt's are in Missouri.

The Sunlight Foundation is looking back on the first year of operation for their new Political Party Time initiative, and announced today that Roy Blunt is one of their "Top Congressional Partiers" for 2009. 

Blunt had the fourth-most parties in their database this year, which the foundation acknowledges isn't a comprehensive collection yet.

It's a Tuesday, which means it's a great day for Roy Blunt to collect big checks from DC lobbyists and PACs.

Blunt's campaign is hosting cocktails and dinner tonight at Ruth's Chris Steak House in downtown Washington tonight – PACs need to bring at least a $2,400 check, and individuals should bring $1,000 to get in.

Details of the event are being distributed by the NRSC, which has previously promised not to "weigh in" on Blunt's primary battle with State Sen. Chuck Purgason.

Roll Call:

Republican kingmakers Fred Malek, an ally of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), and power lobbyist Charlie Black are co-hosting a fundraising dinner for GOP Rep. Roy Blunt’s (Mo.) bid for Senate in 2010.

Malek, a businessman who served as a top adviser to several former GOP presidents, hosted a dinner for Palin earlier this year on one of her rare trips to Washington, D.C. Malek has defended Palin and even served as an intermediary between her another Senate candidate, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who was seeking the former vice presidential nominee’s endorsement.

According to a copy of the invitation, Malek, Black and their spouses “invite you to an intimate dinner in honor of” Blunt. The Dec. 10 event, for which tickets cost from $1,000 to $2,400, will be held at Malek’s McLean, Va., home.

Black -- described as "The Republican Party’s quintessential company" -- was a top advisor to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, and the focus of some controversy in that role.

Opting not to shoot his farm-raised fowl at the Ozark Wings Hatchery and Hunting Preserve in Caulfield, Roy Blunt and friends will be hunting for birds Monday morning just outside of DC at an NRSC fundraiser.  Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) promised earlier this week that the NRSC "wouldn't play spend money in the Republican primaries," but that commitment doesn't seem to apply to previously-scheduled events.

Roy Blunt raised more PAC money in the third quarter than any non-incumbent running for US Senate, according to an analysis published in The Hotline yesterday.

Blunt raised a total of $358,700 from PACs for the quarter, surpassed only by three sitting Senators -- Chuck Grassley, Blanche Lincoln and Harry Reid. 

From a new Roy Blunt fundraising email:

Robin Carnahan is not running a grassroots campaign like ours, but she is spending her time raising money. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden came to Missouri for a big fundraiser for Robin Carnahan where ticket prices were as high as $14,800.

Um, what about the fact that no federal candidate in the country has received more lobbyist money that Blunt, the fact that he's had more insurance industry-fundraisers than any Member of Congress this year, or that $100,400-per-couple ticket price for a private reception with Newt Gingrich last month?

No other candidate in the race is running a "grassroots campaign" quite like that, no. 

The signs were all there:

• March 21: KY3 reports that Roy Blunt has "a totally unwieldy campaign apparatus" and "fundraising isn't going as well as expected"
• April 9: Nine days after the end of the quarter, Blunt says he still hasn't "seen the numbers."
• April 11: A source very close to Blunt tells KY3 that "anything around $500,000 will be respectable."
• April 14: Blunt says, "The last thing I'm worried about is whether we raised the money."

It's not hard to see why Blunt & Co. were lowering expectations. Robin Carnahan almost doubled Blunt's fundraising for the first quarter ($1,048,023 and $542,000, respectively), and almost tripled his total from individual contributors. And at the same time, Blunt burned through almost twice the cash, in less time.

Photo from the Washington Independent.