Statewide Iowa — Campaign finance reports show all but one of the Republicans running for statewide office have a fundraising advantage over their Democratic challengers.
That fundraising advantage translates to a sizable campaign spending edge in the governor’s race in particular. Campaign finance reports show Republican Governor Kim Reynolds spent about five million dollars from mid-July to mid-October. Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear spent one-fifth as much and had about 366-thousand dollars left in her campaign account last week.
Rob Sand, who’s seeking a second term as state auditor, was the only Democrat running for statewide office to raise more than their GOP challenger. Todd Halbur, Sand’s opponent, ended the reporting period with just about four-thousand dollars in his campaign account. Sand had 600-thousand.
Rick Stewart, the Libertarian candidate for governor, raised about 54-thousand dollars for his campaign from mid-July to mid-October. That includes 25-thousand dollars of his own money. His campaign finance report indicates Stewart spent less than three-thousand dollars on his gubernatorial campaign over that three month period.
