WASHINGTON -- Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Conner Eldridge pulled in more than $400,000 in the three weeks since announcing his bid, topping the more than $359,000 brought in by incumbent Republican Sen. John Boozman, campaign staff members for both men said Thursday.
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Financial reports detailing amounts raised and spent by campaigns in July, August and September were due Thursday and will all eventually be posted online by the Federal Election Commission.
Boozman's campaign gave the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette a copy of its complete 162-page report. Eldridge's campaign declined to make theirs available, providing only the first four pages.
Neither candidate's report was available in the Senate Public Records office Thursday afternoon.
Since announcing his bid Sept. 9, Eldridge of Fayetteville raised $403,040 and spent $2,278, according to a partial version of the report provided by his campaign. Eldridge had $400,761 left Sept. 30.
Boozman of Rogers started the reporting cycle with $872,740. He reported raising $359,524 and spending $108,238. He had $1.1 million on hand Sept. 30.
Eldridge, a former U.S. attorney, has scheduled a formal kickoff event Saturday at his family's farm supply store in Augusta.
"I am running to show that one senator can shake up the status quo and make a difference in the lives of Arkansas families, and our message is clearly resonating," he said in a statement.
Boozman's campaign manager, Chris Caldwell, said Eldridge's fundraising wasn't unexpected.
"It is no surprise that after the Democrats finding someone to run and him coming from a family of millionaires that he raised the money he did," he said in a statement.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock assistant professor Greg Shufeldt said people should be careful not to assume too much about the race until they know where Eldridge's money came from.
"I would probably urge caution at first before reading too much into it," he said. "A lot of times the early money is some of the low-hanging fruit. It could be institutional money. It could be key Democratic constituencies giving maximum-level checks."
Boozman's lower fundraising figures may reflect that the first-term senator had no challenger for most of the quarter, he said.
Senate campaign committees file reports by giving typed or handwritten paper copies of their reports to the secretary of the Senate, who sends them within two days to the Federal Election Commission.
Federal employees then scan the reports into a digital format, print them and send them to a private vendor who retypes the information into a spreadsheet.
It can take weeks or months for information on Senate campaign donors to become available in a searchable format online at fec.gov.
House candidates file their reports electronically with the Federal Election Commission, which normally makes the information available online within 48 hours.
In central Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District, U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, reported starting with $374,879. He raised $221,200 and spent $53,490. Hill had $542,590 on hand Sept. 30.
Former Little Rock School Board member Dianne Curry is the only Democrat who has publicly entered the race. Federal candidates don't have to report their fundraising until they either raise or spend $5,000 toward their campaign.
Curry said Thursday that she hasn't reached that threshold yet.
She filed a statement of candidacy with the Commission Sept. 17. On Sept. 24, the commission asked Curry to provide the name and address of her campaign treasurer. Curry said she is looking into the request.
The filing period to run for office in the state starts Nov. 2 and ends Nov. 9. So far, no Democrat has announced a bid for Arkansas' three other Congressional seats.
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Republican from Jonesboro, started the reporting cycle with $429,055. He raised an additional $78,715 and spent $88,427, leaving him with $419,342.
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Rogers, started with $923,857. He raised $37,925 and spent $46,070. Womack had $915,712 left.
Metro on 10/16/2015