Themis Clarides raised more money in the first three months of 2022 than any other Republican candidate for the US Senate in Connecticut, while her opponents, Leora Levy and Peter Lumaj, relied more on personal loans than contributions.
Campaign reports filed Friday showed Klarides raised $ 425,431 in the first quarter, compared with $ 294,930 for the Levy and $ 158,058 for the Lumaj. No other Republican reported significant fundraising in the race.
They are vying for the GOP nomination and the opportunity to oppose two well-funded Democrats, Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
His campaign committee raised $ 706,858 in contributions and received another $ 101,000 from a related committee, the Blumenthal Victory Fund. His campaign closed the quarter with $ 8.1 million in the bank.
Levy, a member of the Republican National Committee and a long-time GOP fundraiser, closed the quarter with nearly $ 1 million in her campaign account, largely due to a $ 750,000 loan from the candidate.
Lumai had $ 459,817 in cash, more than half of a $ 250,000 loan he made to his campaign on March 30, the second to last day of the deposit period. Candidate since November 24, has now raised $ 269,533.
Clarides, the former leader of the House of Representatives Republicans who did not seek re-election in 2020 after 22 years as a state MP, closed the quarter with $ 447,701 in cash. She lent her campaign $ 40,000.
With significant personal funds in their campaigns, Levy and Lumaj seem to underline their intention to stay in the race after the Republican nomination convention in May, where Clarides is favored to win approval.
To qualify for the qualifiers in August you must win 15% of the vote at the conference or apply for access. The only Republican primary in the entire state is expected to be for the US Senate and Secretary of State.
While Clarides showed more financial support than former and current elected officials, Levy and Lumaj showed financial support for the alleged GOP candidate for governor, Bob Stefanowski.
Stefanowski, who was also the governing candidate in 2018, contributed $ 2,000 to Levy and $ 3,001 to Lumaj. Stefanovski, the winner of a five-way qualifier four years ago, has only a symbolic competition for candidacy this year.
Linda McMahon, a two-time Republican nominee for the Senate, losing games to Blumenthal in 2010 and Chris Murphy in 2012, donated $ 5,800 to the Levy campaign and $ 5,000 to the Connecticut Patriots, the Levy-backed super PAC .
Aside from the fact that they both live in Greenwich, McMahon and Levy have ties to the Trump administration. McMahon led the Small Business Administration and Levy was appointed US Ambassador to Chile.
Thomas Foley, the party’s candidate for governor in 2010 and 2014, gave $ 5,800 to Clarides’ campaign, the maximum allowed until the August primaries.
Sponsors can donate up to $ 2,900 in each phase of a federal campaign: conference, qualifiers, and general election. Claride’s husband, Greg Butler, gave $ 8,600 – essentially betting he would make it to the polls in November.
Two former GOP states, Chris Healy and Herb Shepardson, donated $ 1,505 and $ 500 to Klarides’s campaign, respectively. Robert Polliner, another former chair, gave Levy $ 250.
Clarides’s predecessor and successor in the House of Representatives, Lawrence F. Caffero Jr. and Vincent Cantelora, gave $ 500 and $ 255, respectively. Dealer Tim Ackert, R-Coventry, who unsuccessfully challenged her for leadership in 2016, contributed $ 505.
Old David Lyme J. David Kelsey covered every bet: He gave $ 2,000 to Lumaj, $ 2,005 to Klarides, $ 5,800 to Levy and $ 15,000 to the Connecticut Patriots, the super PAC that supports Levy. The new PAC raised $ 25,000.
Home races: Hayes beats Logan 3-1
In what is expected to be Connecticut’s most competitive race for Congress, U.S. MP Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, more than tripled that of her Republican opponent, George Logan, in the first three months of 2022.
Hayes raised $ 303,855 to Logan’s $ 90,389. Its campaign closed the quarter with nearly $ 1.6 million in the bank, compared to Logan’s $ 214,477.
Hayes, the former national teacher of the year who has never held an elected office, won the open seat in 2018. Logan is a former state senator.
No Republican has won a race for Congress in Connecticut since 2006. But the 5th and 2nd are constituencies where Republican candidates across the state have competed in other contests, giving the GOP some hope.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, had a similarly large advantage over Republican Mike France in raising funds, raising $ 308,836 over France’s $ 109,774. Courtney closed the quarter with $ 1.2 million in the bank, compared to $ 116,832 in France.
France is a Republican legislator from Lediard.
The 1st, 3rd and 4th constituencies are firmly Democratic and the two Republicans who recently launched campaigns in the 3rd and 4th constituencies have had dissimilar results in raising money.
Darien’s former first choice wife, James Stevenson, raised $ 137,711 and lent her $ 25,000 campaign to challenge U.S. Representative Jim Himes in the D-4th District. Himes raised $ 272,269 and had $ 2 million in his campaign account.
Fairfield County 4 was the last Republican to hold the seat, but it became democratic after Himes ousted Republican Chris Says, the last of a number of moderate Republicans to hold the seat.
In New Haven-based 3rd District, political scientist Lesley DeNardis learned a hard lesson about what it’s like to raise money for a challenge from Rosa L. DeLauro, a Democrat who is the Dean of the Delegation and chair of the Commission. Credits of Parliament.
DeNardis, a Republican who recently retired as a professor at Sacred Heart University, raised $ 21,217 to DeLauro’s $ 211,494 for the quarter. DeLauro’s campaign has $ 1.35 million in the bank.
DeNardis’s father, Larry DeNardis, was the last Republican to hold the seat. A teacher and former state senator, he served a single term after winning an open race in 1980, aided by Ronald Reagan’s coats.
In the 1st District of Hartford, U.S. MP John B. Larson, a Democrat, raised $ 227,318 and had $ 876,618 in the bank. The only opponent raising significant funds for a challenge is a fellow Democrat, a young newcomer named Muad Hrezi.
Hrezi, a former U.S. Senate official running to Larson’s left, raised $ 170,041 a quarter and had $ 192,203 in the bank. He is the first candidate to contest the candidacy since Larson won the 1998 open primary.