Voinovich Leads In Fund-Raising

[Freddie Stubbs]

Incumbents Hold Advantage

POSTED: 11:18 am EDT July 16, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Congressional incumbents continued to hold a huge fund-raising advantage in Ohio while political challengers made some modest gains from early donations, according to campaign finance reports.

Sen. George Voinovich, a Cleveland Republican, has raised the most this election cycle at $7.9 million. He raised $854,788 during April, May and June and spent $334,165, according to reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission. That means Voinovich has $5.6 million in the bank to battle challenger Eric Fingerhut this fall.

Fingerhut, a Democratic state senator from Cleveland who served for one term in the U.S. House, hasn't broken $1 million yet. His campaign collected $229,782 during the last three months and $861,955 in total. The average contribution was less than $200 and came from 4,500 Ohioans across the state, Fingerhut said.

Fingerhut spent $185,887 in the last three months, about half as much as Voinovich. He has $152,996 on hand going into the months leading up to the Nov. 2 election.

more: http://www.nbc4columbus.com/politics/3537516/detail.html

[FatSlob]

1. Why am I not surprised.

Very little name recognition. Hopefully the numbers will go up as the election moves closer. Unfortunately, it looks like another Voinovich landslide is on the horizon. I really hate that man.

[Kolesar]

2. GOPs average twice the funds of Dems in congressional races

So I am not surprised that Voinovich has a lot more than Eric Fingerhut. Eight times more is huge. I think it is the energy/electricty/coal industry doing it for him. They jack us on the utility rates, then use their profits to fund horrible candidates. That's America.

[Ninga]

3. Let's NOT concede this race yet.

Eric Fingerhut has been campaigning for the last 14 months.

He has visited areas in Ohio that have never seen a candidate before.

Hillary Clinton just sent him $5,000.

Please visit his website

www.fingerhutforussenate.com

and donate. Get 10 other people to visit and donate.

The people in Ohio are suffering from GOP domination.

Let's work hard to change that.

Please do not give up on Eric.