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CARNAHAN HAS DOUBLE THE MONEY THAT TALENT HAS FOR SENATE
RACE
The following piece by Jo Mannies appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
on Wednesday, January 30, 2002.
Missouri's two major candidates for the Senate amassed more
than
$4 million in the bank by the end of last month, despite the
temporary slowdown prompted by the terrorist attacks.
The bulk of the campaign money -- $2.76 million -- belongs to Sen.
Jean Carnahan, D-Mo. Her Republican opponent, former Rep. Jim Talent,
reports $1.32 million in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.
Talent and Carnahan have each raised more in the last six months
than their high-profile predecessors -- then-incumbent John Ashcroft
and then-Gov. Mel Carnahan -- raised during the same period in their
Senate battle in 2000.
Jean Carnahan's tallies also show that she's raising and saving
money at a faster clip overall than her late husband, who died in a
campaign plane crash three weeks before the election. When he won
posthumously, Jean Carnahan was appointed to a two-year term.
Talent and Carnahan provided summary pages Tuesday to the Post-
Dispatch of their latest campaign reports, due Thursday. The reports
cover the last six months of 2001 but include running totals.
Carnahan has raised $4.3 million so far, including $1.99 million
since July 1. She has spent $1.54 million overall, almost two-thirds
of it --$986,220 -- in the last six months of 2001.
Talent reports raising $1.79 million and spending $466,634 since
July 1. He only began raising money last summer, when he declared his
interest in the post. He announced his candidacy in October.
At the same point two years ago, Mel Carnahan and Ashcroft had in-
the-bank tallies of $2.55 million and $3.44 million, respectively.
Carnahan had raised $1.74 million during the last half of 1999,
compared with $1.73 million for Ashcroft.
Both major parties see the Talent-Carnahan contest as crucial to
their bids to win majorities in the Senate on Nov. 5.
"I would rate it as one of the three most vulnerable Democratic
seats in the country," said Ron Faucheux, editor of Campaigns &
Elections magazine. "It has national implications and national
interest."
Shortly after Sept. 11, both campaigns reported canceling or
cutting back on fund raising. That changed, particularly after former
President George Bush flew in Nov. 17 for a high-profile money-
raising event for Talent.
Talent also held a Dec. 4 luncheon featuring vice presidential
adviser Mary Matalin. He reported collecting $27,500 from the
Republican Party and $273,721 from political action committees.
Talent spokesman Rich Chrismer said the campaign found it
"astounding and encouraging" that they were able to raise so much so
fast.
Carnahan has raised $16,500 directly from Democratic Party sources
and $706,048 from PACs. She also received $140,392 as her share of
joint fund-raising events with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee and with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.
Carnahan spokesman Tony Wyche credited "an aggressive direct-mail
campaign" for Jean Carnahan's strong money-raising efforts. He said
her campaign was hampered by the fact that the candidate often was in
Washington, and therefore unavailable for fund-raising events,
because the Senate was in session until late December.
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