In the race for the 1st Congressional District, Democrat Frank Kratovil is beginning to catch up with Republican Andy Harris in the fundraising contest.
According to federal filings, from April through June, Kratovil, the Queen Anne’s County state’s attorney, raised more than $356,000 and has $454,000 in cash on hand; Harris, a Baltimore County state senator, raised more than $431,000, not counting a $100,000 loan to his campaign, and has $609,000 on hand.
Tim McCann, Kratovil’s new manager, said the loan showed Harris “was caught lying about his fundraising strength and needed a last-minute loan to bail himself out. He’s starting to panic” and is in “real trouble.”
McCann was basing his remarks on Harris comments reported June 12 on the politickermd.com blog site saying he was “about halfway” to raising the $1.2 million he though he would need for the race.
Harris manager Chris Meekins said, that after raising more than $1.9 million for race, “Andy thought it was time he showed he believed in this campaign as well.” Counting pre-primary contributions from Harris supporters that could only be used in the general election, Harris has raised $646,000 for the general election, not including the $100,000 loan the Johns Hopkins medical school anesthesiologist made to himself.
The two candidates continue to spar over which one has the momentum in the race to succeed nine-term Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, whom Harris beat in the Feb. 12 primary.
McCann claims “the momentum is picking up here” with the latest fundraising figures and Kratovil’s selection to be part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee‘s “Red to Blue” program designed to gain victories in traditionally Republican districts.
But in addition to Harris’s continuing edge in contributions and cash, Meekins noted that the Kratovil’s is not one of the 31 races for which the Democratic committee has reserved $35 million in television advertising time in order to gain discounts.
“It’s very early,” McCann expalined. “That was just the first round of ad buys. A lot more districts are getting added to that list.”
