Rounds 3q 2019 FEC by Pat Powers on Scribd
Filing shortly after his Republican competition for US Senate today, incumbent Senator Mike Rounds added a healthy amount to his total in the third fundraising quarter of this year.
The Senator raised a total of $445,121.15, while spending $219,014.33, raising his total cash on hand to $1,621,724.73. Not a bad quarter by any measure, especially lacking a Democrat opponent, since Dan Ahlers only just announced.
January is around the corner, when things are really going to start rolling. We’ll see what happens!
What are they spending so much on?
Texas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a House freshman mind you, raised $1.4 million for his reelection bid during the third quarter. That’s more than two of his party’s most endangered senators — North Carolina’s Thom Tillis and Iowa’s Joni Ernst — raised for their reelection bids. Crenshaw represents 800,000 people, while Tillis and Ernst represent 10 million and 3 million, respectively.
This should tell you something about what Sen. Rounds is actually raising…. not much. I’d also like to know what the hell he’s spending so much on?
Good thing he’s not in a competitive race….
https://www.rollcall.com/news/campaigns/fundraising-update-house-freshmen-raising-embattled-senators
Rounds won’t get nearly as much money from national groups because he doesn’t have a competitive race in any capacity. If he already has a campaign structure in place, that would clearly be eating up a good portion of his funds. Remember, it might be important for him to get campaign staff on board early on (earlier than normal) as he has to miss some events to care for his wife who is battling cancer. I would guess he has assets in place should a primary become competitive, which it won’t. And those assets are available should a general get within ten points, which, considering the opponent, it won’t ever get there. For some reason people always under estimate Rounds. He’s never lost an election, he is with Trump 90 percent of the time. He has finally taken a stand on not supporting continuing resolutions to kick the can down the road on debt. If a race were to get close, the money will come rushing in. Senator Thune supports Rounds, Thune has considerable assets and access to money as a top Republican in the nation. The same thing will happen for Tillis and Earnst, money will start coming in as election nears.
When you look at Dan Crenshaw he is a rock star. He’s one of those who grabs headlines and attention from all sorts of groups because of his wonderful story and background. It should come as no surprise that a person like Crenshaw can outraise many people. He’s a special person. Not that the others aren’t special, but Dan Crenshaw has a large national following. A few people come along from time to time who are meant to be leaders and can inspire people across a broad spectrum. I’d guess many first time donors are giving to Crenshaw because his story is a national inspiration. He had the courage to go on Saturday Night Live after being bashed on the show. He’s just a different animal than most. Rounds, Earnst and Tillis are fine people and good legislators. I don’t know that they have the national attention of Crenshaw or the social media savvy he has. All important factors to consider.
The real reason Sen Rounds is spending so much money is because they have Glodt raising money for them. So many cheaper ways to raise money than Jason Glodt.
How does one raise large quantities of money? Of course the answer is doing fundraising around the country on weekends and evenings. Clearly he is worried about his wife and heaven forbid focusing on work. If he’d raised much more I’d be questioning what he’s been spending his time on.
On top of that he doesn’t have any credible opposition so it’s not just going to come pouring in because he’s a nice guy.
We are a cheap market compared to almost every other race so it’s not fair to compare how much others have raised. As stated before if the race tightens the money will pick up. I think it’s a very respectable number. It takes a lot of money to have a good organization in place. There are expenses for that!
Clearly he is worried about his wife and heaven forbid focusing on work. If he’d raised much more I’d be questioning what he’s been spending his time on.
He’s on the Senate Armed Service Committee and the Senate Banking Committee – two fundraising powerhouse committees. It is concerning he’s not raking in money. Thune hasn’t had a serious challenge since 2004 and now has +$12 million in the bank account, including massive hauls in off cycle years.
He’s also one of the wealthiest members of Congress, obviously he could retire and be with his wife as while she goes through treatment.