WASHINGTON -- The Republican candidates in Arkansas' U.S. House races outraised their Democratic opponents in the past two months, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday.
The reports were due to the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday and cover the time between May 1 and June 30.
In the 4th Congressional District, state Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, the Republican candidate, raised $187,332 and spent $91,354. Westerman, who started the reporting period with $83,295, had $179,274 left.
Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt, the Democratic candidate, raised $168,045 and spent $113,786. Witt, who had $341,479 at the start of the reporting period, finished with $395,738 on hand.
In the 2nd District race, Little Rock banker French Hill, the Republican candidate, raised $340,736 and spent $251,399. Hill, who started with $378,650, had $467,987 left.
Former North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays, the Democratic candidate, raised $230,735 and spent $117,988. He began the reporting period with $508,050 and had $620,797 left.
In the 1st District, incumbent U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, the Republican candidate, raised $94,295 and spent $43,571. He started the reporting period with $378,741 and had $429,465 left on hand.
Heber Springs Mayor Jackie McPherson, the Democratic candidate, raised $40,741 and spent $35,602, according to his spokesman, Joanna Paul. He started the reporting period with $102,358 and had $107,497 left. His report had not yet appeared on the Federal Election Commission website Tuesday evening. Reports must be submitted by midnight.
On June 3, the Federal Election Commission notified the McPherson campaign in a letter that it had until July 8 to fix several problems with its April quarterly report. The letter states the campaign did not provide enough information about contributions collected for McPherson through a third party, called a conduit.
Paul said the campaign was still working on responding to the Federal Election Commission request Tuesday.
In the 3rd District, U.S. Rep. Steve Womack raised $124,453 and spent $128,731. Womack, who started the reporting period with $699,662, had $695,384 left. The Rogers Republican does not have a Democratic opponent.
Reports were not available for the Libertarian congressional candidates: Brian Scott Willhite of Cabot (1st District), Debbie Standiford of North Little Rock (2nd District), Grant Brand of Pea Ridge (3rd District) and Ken Hamilton of El Dorado (4th District).
Also, reports were not available for U.S. Senate candidates Nathan LaFrance, a Libertarian from Bella Vista, and Mark Swaney, a Green Party candidate from Huntsville.
Candidates aren't required to file with the Federal Election Commission until they have raised or spent $5,000.
In the U.S. Senate race between Democrat incumbent Mark Pryor of Little Rock and U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, Cotton outraised Pryor $1.7 million to $1.1 million over the two month period, according to their reports.
Pryor spent $1.2 million. He started the reporting period with $4.1 million and had $4 million left.
Cotton spent $1.3 million. He started the reporting period with $2.36 million and had $2.75 million left.
When releasing fundraising figures over the past few days, each campaign referenced an amount that included money raised from April 1 to April 30 as well as the most recent report from May 1 to June 30. Overall, Cotton outraised Pryor $2.28 million to $1.5 million during the second quarter of 2014.
Metro on 07/16/2014