June 10 Campaign Finance Reports
Campaign finance reports for the month of May are in, and here is where the candidates stand:
** Phil Bryant maintains a strong cash on hand lead over Dave Dennis. Right now, Bryant has $1.7 million in the bank versus $471,000 for Dennis.
Bryant’s campaign released this statement following the report: “Phil Bryant’s campaign continues gaining momentum as demonstrated by May’s campaign finance report as well as several recent endorsements from pro-business groups in Mississippi. It’s clear that people believe experience matters and a proven record of conservative leadership is what we need in our next Governor.”
The Dennis team added these campaign details: “Campaign manager Brian Perry noted several upcoming fundraisers next week including one in Tupelo on Monday June 13, Lake on Tuesday June 14, and in Jackson on Thursday June 16, combined with the campaign’s cash-on-hand has it well positioned to continue to push its message out before the August 2 primary. The Jackson fundraiser is being hosted by Ambassador John N. Palmer and Matthew L. Holleman at $5000 a person/couple.”
Also worth mentioning that Hudson Holliday made a loan of $500,000 to his campaign.
** Tate Reeves also continues to lead the way in the lieutenant governor’s primary. Reeves is posting more than $1.7 million cash on hand compared with a little less than $750,000 for Billy Hewes.
Reeves issued this statement yesterday: “Not only have we now received contributions from all 82 counties in Mississippi, but we continue to break fundraising records for a race for Lt. Governor in Mississippi. Our success is entirely due to the strong level of grassroots support we enjoy across the state. My wife Elee and I are grateful to the thousands of donors and volunteers from every corner of Mississippi who are enthusiastically giving of their time, talents, prayers and hard earned money to help us win this election.”
** Lucien Smith also maintains his cash advantage over Lynn Fitch and Lee Yancey. Currently, Smith has $435,000 COH compared to $209,000 for Fitch and $82,000 for Yancey.
Here is a statement from Smith: “I continue to be humbled by the support I have received from across the state. With 53 days left until Election Day, we look forward to moving into the final stages of the campaign.”
Fitch sent out an email to supporters saying this: “What an incredible past month filled with great news! Campaign finance reports for May were released today by the Secretary of State. I am proud to announce that our campaign raised over $134,000, well over twice my two primary opponents combined. It’s humbling to receive this sort of support from my fellow Mississippians. To each and every one of you who contributed: THANK YOU! We are going to win this race because of support like yours.”
** Jim Hood has put some distance between himself and Steve Simpson. Hood’s COH is just under $467,000 while Simpson is right around $200,000.
Yes, General Hudson Holliday loaned $500, 000 to his campaign. While Bryant and Dennis have raised substantive amounts of money, mainly from corporations and individuals, many from out of state, that want something other than simply good government in return, Holliday is going about business the way he always has, the way he led fellow citizens in Pearl River county in suing their own county government and winning back their property rights. Holliday, as a developer, could probably made more money had the rules they repelled stayed in effect.
Beginning Monday, June 13, 6:30pm at the Trent Lott center at USM, Hattiesburg, Ms. General Holliday will be sponsoring live televised Town Hall meetings where any and all citizens interested in having a voice in this years voting on candidates and initiatives can participate.
There’s a possibility that as a result of these TV shows airing on cable from the coast to Memphis as well as on the Internet may lead those citizens who can only contribute $20 or so to do so and help insure these TV shows continue to run each week until August 2 and be the ‘working person’s’ way of counter acting the large self-interest contributors.
Did Lynn really say that?
Yes, Lynn did say that. It was misleading for her to represent that she has momentum or broad-based support, though, when $100k out of her $134k total was a loan from herself.
Haha.. I wish someone would also point out that $100,000 of Lynn’s “raised” $134,000 came from a campaign loan.. check the report http://www.sos.ms.gov/page.aspx?s=7&s1=1&s2=74
“well over twice my two primary opponents combined..” haha yeah, right
Hey kids, it’s a fact and I’ll bet she would love to start a conversation about who’s giving money to who in this Treasurer’s race….just saying.
As you wish oldschoolgop, but sure is tough to claim momentum and “receiv[ing] this sort of support from [your] fellow Mississippians” when 74.6% of said support is from yourself… once again, just saying
I’m not even talking about that part of it….that’s political talk…you ought to hear what the other candidates are saying on the stump…it’s laughable. My point is the number is real…40% more then if you take the 100k out…and I don’t think your candidate wants to talk much about who’s raising his money, that’s all.
The fact that Lynn isn’t recieving large contributions, makes her viable to me as a candidate. You Political types revel in contributions, like it’s a definition of Popular Support. Not so.
I wonder why Brett never mentions My campaign anymore. Are we making folks nervous?
Ron, seems as if some of the big donors to Bryant and Dennis, are hedging their bets, or at least former ambassador John Palmer is. He’s donated at least $5,000 to Bryant and then hosts a $5,000 per attendee fund raiser for Dennis. Don’t know if this has any bearing on you not being mentioned, however.
If I were running as a candidate I would rather have 1000 $5.00 contributions than 1 $5000 one. Obvious reasons. The regular voter in Mississippi cannot contribute large amounts of cash. Many are unemployed (thanks to the wonderful jobs that our current administration are doing – including Bryant) and many are just able to get by. This does not mean that they will not vote – in fact many of them are anxious to cast their ballot for someone who has their values and wants to do the right things for our state. More money means ability to advertise and that is all it means. Pressing the flesh still means more than a TV commercial. Any candidate willing to work hard can still win regardless of their budget.
Ok boys think about it, Mississippi, like all other states and the majority of the world, is caught up in a worldwide recession. So yes there are many who are unemployed as referenced by Seriousvoter. Surely you do realize (and are adequately informed) to understand this FACT? All 50 states are suffering from high unemployment due to the recession. So attempting to blame it on the “current administration…including Bryant” is a very naive and shallow claim. Believe it or not but the Mississippi economy is NOT an economic island that is immune to national and worldwide economic trends and conditions. As long as the rest of America is suffering from high unemployment then, you can be assured, Mississippi will to. You can “stick that in our pipe and smoke it”!
Charlie and Ron, y’all need to embrace election reality in the U. S. Raising campaign cash is an integral and important part of our election process. Apparently y’all either don’t understand this or can’t accept it. But like it or not it is R E A L I T Y here in the good ole US of A. It’s as American as apple pie boys. But I guess everyone doesn’t like apple pie either, do they? But hey, that certainly doesn’t mean everyone else is gonna quit eating it though!
And Ron, you comment about your campaign “making folks nervous” makes one ponder what you mean. I guess if “folks” will get nervous about a candidate (for Governor) who is destined to garner maybe 1 or (stretching it) 2% of the vote in August then I guess it is possible some are getting nervous.
One other thing Ron, do tell me that just because Lynn Fitch isn’t receiving significant political contributions isn’t the only reason you think she is a viable candidate? Please, Ron, there must be more that makes you support her (apparent support)? Like maybe her positions on important issues? Maybe even because she is a good family person with strong morals? There must be something other than her inability to collect contributions? Has it crossed your mind that maybe there are real reasons why she hasn’t made much headway in collecting contributions (I haven’t seen her campaign finance reports so I’m assuming that others are correct in this allegation. But may be dead wrong). Personally, I prefer an aggressive candidate with the aptitude, the drive, the impressive stature, the right stance on the key issues and the intellectual ability to be able to collect campaign contributions. This shows me a candidate who is savvy enough to get out there and fight for contributions to help get themselves elected. And I damn sure don’t want to support a candidate who is so lame and politically ignorant that won’t accept or aggressively seek funding to support their beliefs. I’m not saying Ms Fitch is any of this but I am suggesting to the readers that they closely examine the facts and try to determine why she isn’t able to bring home major contributions.
Now back to my original thesis. Please tell me Ron that there is much more to you thinking she is a viable candidate than her inability to get “large contributions”? If this is your golden standard of deciding who you support as a candidate then Joe Blow the derelict drug addict who lives on the streets of the French Quarter in a cardboard box is most definitely a highly qualified candidate for most any office. Please tell?!?
Coast Rat 4ever, I don’t smoke a pipe or anything else. You are not as informed about the statistics on unemployment, lack of job creation, and workforce education as you think you are. Noone said that Mississippi is the only state that has problems. Candidates everywhere are having problems raising capitol. Mississippi ranks lowest of all states on median family income, highest on high school drop out rates, highest on teen pregnancy, and in the top three on unemployment and welfare. Unfortunately Bryant was one of three who had the ability to stop spending in Mississippi as they had the final vote of state bonds. Sorry if that offends you but it is the truth. You probably also do not know that it is almost impossible for a woman to win a political seat in the state of Mississippi. Less than 8% of elected seats in Mississippi have been women. Any funds that Lynn Fitch raises will be from genuine voters and not a bunch of political elite in this state. Try a new thesis or maybe study a little more about your candidates and the state of Mississippi.
Lynn Fitch has some of the best qualifications of any candidate running. Lee Yancey is also a great candidate. It is nice to have two really well qualified candidates to choose from for State Treasurer. A privilege we rarely have in political races.
I tend to agree with several of your remarks Seriousvoter. Specifically your comments about the difficulty of women to get elected to a statewide office and the qualifications of Lynn Fitch. And I agree that Lee Yancey is also a good candidate. So we are in agreement here. I also feel that Lucien Smith is a very well qualified candidate. But I am not going to discount Lucien as being a great candidate JUST because he is able to solicit large amounts of campaign donations. And I’m not sure what a “genuine voter” is compared to “a bunch of political elite”. In my Mississippi, my US of A, ALL citizens of voting age are genuine voters. I do not differentiate, disenfranchise or segregate voters based on race, religion or class. It appears that you are disenfranchising some voters based on class. So I must respectfully disagree with you here. I just don’t think this represents the America or the Mississippi that I know. We are all ” genuine voters”, sir, in my Mississippi.