Likely Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is trumpeting a multimillion-dollar fundraising haul in the first three months of 2024.
On April 2, Mr. Gallego’s campaign said the candidate had pulled in $7.5 million in donations between January and March.
“Our campaign is fueled by grassroots support,” the congressman posted on X, formerly Twitter.
It is unclear, however, where the reported donations wound up. The fundraising announcement came well ahead of the Federal Election Commission’s April 15 deadline for quarterly campaign finance reports.
Mr. Gallego is associated with four such funds: his campaign committee, Gallego for Arizona; a qualified leadership political action committee (PAC), Latino Leaders for Equality, Growth, Opportunity, Progressive Action & Change (LLEGO-PAC); a non-qualified joint fundraising committee, Gallego Victory Fund; and an additional fund, which he shares with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) called Swallego Victory Fund.
At the end of 2023, Gallegeo for Arizona led the way in fundraising. That account raised about $13.2 million in 2023 and ended the year with about $6.5 million in cash on hand.
The principal campaign committee as well as the two joint fundraising committees report on a quarterly basis and will publish their next disclosures on April 15.
LLEGO-PAC reports on a monthly basis. When it released its latest disclosure on March 20, the PAC said it had about $40,500 in cash on hand at the end of February.
In addition to his own fundraising committees, Mr. Gallego will likely tap into the financial resources being marshaled by the Democratic Party, its congressional committees and allied outside spending groups.
When the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last reported their finances, also on March 20, the two said they collectively had about $58.4 million in the bank.
Gallego vs. Lake?
Mr. Gallego is running for the seat currently occupied by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) Ms. Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat but renounced her party in 2022, announced on March 5 she would not seek reelection in 2024.Mr. Gallego is likely to run against Kari Lake. Ms. Lake, a former television anchor in the Phoenix market who was narrowly defeated in her 2022 bid for the governorship by Katie Hobbs, a Democrat.
The Arizona Senate seat is crucial to the balance of power in Congress, where the Democratic Party currently controls the upper chamber.
Arizona narrowly supported President Joe Biden in 2020 and elected a Democratic governor and senator in 2022. In 2016, former President Donald Trump had easily carried the state.
The most recent poll pitting the likely Democratic and Republican candidates against one another gave Mr. Gallego a slight advantage over Ms. Lake. An Emerson College Polling survey published March 20 said 44 percent of voters support Mr. Gallego and 40 percent support Ms. Lake. Sixteen percent said they were undecided.
Ms. Lake is affiliated with three fundraising groups: Kari Lake for Senate, her campaign committee; Keep America Red Indefinitely PAC, a nonqualified leadership PAC; and Kari Lake Victory Fund, a nonqualified joint fundraising committee.
Together, the groups raised about $2.5 million in 2023, according to FEC records. They ended the year with close to $1.2 million in cash on hand.
Both the principal campaign committee and the joint fundraising committee report on a quarterly basis.
Keep America Red Indefinitely PAC reports on a monthly basis. When it last reported, on March 20, it said it had about $55,700 in cash on hand.
