Eldridge's funds ebb; Boozman's near $1.7M

WASHINGTON -- The Arkansan trying to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman struggled to raise money during the quarter ending Sept. 30, spending more than twice as much as he received in donations.

Conner Eldridge, a Democrat and former U.S. attorney from Fayetteville, reported $271,392 in total contributions and $581,308 in total operating expenditures on campaign finance reports that were received this week by the secretary of the Senate.

With the Nov. 8 general election less than three weeks away, Eldridge's coffers were nearly depleted. He had cash on hand totaling $63,256 and reported debts and obligations of $103,032. Of that, $85,000 is owed to the candidate. On Sept. 29, Eldridge lent the campaign $60,000. A smaller loan of $25,000 was made at the end of the second quarter.

The incumbent, Boozman, ended September with nearly $1.7 million saved up after raising $579,333 during the third quarter of 2016, he reported on Federal Election Commission reports.

The first-term senator from Rogers has received more than $4.6 million, including more than $1.9 million from nonparty committees, such as political action committees. Eldridge has collected nearly $1.6 million in contributions, including $138,250 from nonparty committees. Boozman's campaign said it had $18,112 in debts and obligations.

"Sen. Boozman obviously has more money than we do, and that's in large part because roughly half of his contributions come from individuals and from PACs and folks affiliated with special interest groups in Washington," Eldridge said Thursday. "We're funded from individuals in Arkansas, and he's primarily funded with big PACs in Washington."

Chris Caldwell, Boozman's campaign manager, said Eldridge is attempting to advance President Barack Obama's "liberal agenda" and "it's obvious the people of Arkansas are not responding to his message."

"If he hadn't given himself that $60,000 loan, he'd have $3,000 [in his campaign bank account] right now. A banker would call that bankrupt," Caldwell added.

In Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District, Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock reported contributions totaling $281,439 and expenditures of $163,134, leaving nearly $1.04 million in the bank.

Hill's Democratic challenger, Dianne Curry of Little Rock, listed $7,860 in contributions and $3,094 in expenditures with cash on hand totaling $4,766.

First District U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro reported $64,335 in contributions, $59,507 in expenditures and $318,128 in the bank.

Third District U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers listed $116,272 in contributions, $78,582 in expenditures and nearly $1.2 million cash on hand.

Fourth District U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs reported $99,739 in contributions, $45,202 in expenditures and $357,035 in the bank.

Crawford, Womack and Westerman are all Republican incumbents, and none of them faces Democratic opponents on Election Day.

Metro on 10/21/2016

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