Thoughts On 2011 After Looking At Latest Round of Campaign Finance Reports
Following the release of the January 30 campaign finance reports, we can look closer at who wants to be a major player in 2011- and who has some work to do.
Businessman Dave Dennis put up a nice showing, especially for someone not currently in politics, but Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant currently has about a 2-1 cash on hand advantage. Dennis and Bryant will both most likely be running for governor. Despite the advantage for Bryant, Dennis’ numbers are respectable and show he will be a serious competitor in the GOP primary.
On the Democratic side, Bill Luckett had a very nice showing but those figures were partially inflated by a very nice gift from his friend Morgan Freeman. Still, money is money- and Freeman has plenty of it.
The Republican race for Bryant’s current job could get very interesting. Treasurer Tate Reeves had the most impressive showing with $1.2 million cash on hand. With numbers like that, you have to imagine he is looking for something besides a third term as Treasurer. You have to suspect there is a very good chance he tries for the number two job and with fundraising like this he is as well positioned as anyone.
He won’t be the only one though.
State Sen. Billy Hewes is running for lieutenant governor and he claims more than $670,000 cash on hand. I would also suspect Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is seriously eyeing the number two job and he has more than $315,000 cash on hand. That would make for one heck of a competitive, and very fun, GOP primary. Right now, the GOP primary looks like it will be the general election unless some Democrat really steps up.
The campaign finance numbers also give us cause to believe some candidates may not be looking for a promotion. State Auditor Stacey Pickering has just over $62,000 cash on hand. Enough to win re-election, but not enough to fight with Reeves/ Hewes/ Hosemann.
And Democrats probably have to be a little disappointed with the fundraising of Jim Hood. He currently had about $90,000 cash on hand. Like Pickering- enough to win re-election. But this also has to be interpreted as a sign that he is not seriously looking to run for governor- at least not yet.
