Funding race in full swing

> By JAMES SALZER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> Published on: 07/09/05
Three years after Sonny Perdue defeated Gov. Roy Barnes despite being outspent six to one, he's showing the power of incumbency when it comes to raising money.

Perdue on Friday reported having raised $7.6 million for next year's re-election campaign, with $6.6 million left in his bank account a year out from the primaries. That's slightly more than Barnes had at the same time in 2001, a year before his unsuccessful bid for re-election.

Perdue has now raised about twice as much money as he spent to beat Barnes in 2002.

"Georgians have had an opportunity to get to know the governor and they support what his agenda has been," said Nick Ayers, the Perdue campaign's executive director. "The money has come in without him picking up the phone. He has focused on governing and raised that kind of cash."

The Democrats hoping to beat Perdue — Secretary of State Cathy Cox and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor — made strong fund-raising showings as well, according to their campaign finance reports. Friday was the deadline for state candidates to report fund-raising totals for the first half of 2005.

Cox reported taking in $2.1 million and having $1.9 million in the bank, good numbers considering that she didn't truly crank up her fund-raising machine until after the legislative session that ended in March. Taylor raised $1.48 million since the beginning of the year. He has taken in $3.3 million since the middle of last year, and reported having almost $3 million on hand on June 30.

Meanwhile, Republican lieutenant governor hopeful Ralph Reed, former leader of the Christian Coalition, reported collecting $1.4 million during the period, doubling the total of his GOP rival, state Sen. Casey Cagle (R-Gainesville). Reed has continued raising money despite a steady stream of news reports and documents from U.S. Senate hearings that put him at the edge of a Washington scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with Indian tribal clients. Reed has not been accused of wrongdoing.

In the governor's race, Perdue began collecting checks from big-money interests almost as soon as he beat Barnes in November 2002, and he consistently has reported strong fund-raising numbers since then.

In 2002, Barnes raised and spent about $20 million, while Perdue ran a low-budget grass-roots campaign.

He complained about Barnes' fund-raising, at one point saying, "We're going to reach out to voters. Roy is trying to buy them."

This time around, it appears all three major candidates will have enough money to flood the TV airwaves with ads touting their positions.

Perdue, Cox and Taylor have raised $13 million so far, compared with the 2002 race in which the three candidates for governor had raised about $4.5 million by the same point.

"It's going to be a very competitive season and the media buyers are going to make a lot of money," said Matt Towery, CEO of an Atlanta political and media polling firm.

Cox was helped by polls showing her neck and neck with Perdue and well ahead of Taylor, who has spent the past year building support among black voters and the Democratic Party establishment.

"Based on the support we've received from Republicans and Democrats and independents, it's clear that Georgia is ready to move beyond partisan politics," Cox said Friday.

Taylor said, "Our citizens are thirsty for state leadership, and they want a governor who will fully fund their schools, protect HOPE scholarships from more cuts, and recruit higher paying jobs in every part of Georgia."

The reports indicate that Perdue raised far more money than Taylor or Cox from big businesses, companies that do business with the state, and traditional big-money campaign donors — a common state of affairs for an incumbent. Among Perdue's contributors were Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who gave $5,000; Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who contributed $2,000; and House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), who donated $10,000. Taylor got in on the baseball theme, receiving $5,000 from home run king Hank Aaron.

In the lieutenant governor's race, Reed reported raising more money than any other lieutenant governor candidate ever during the initial reporting period. As of late Friday, Reed's report had not yet been posted on the secretary of state's Web site, although the candidate's staff said his numbers were filed before 6 p.m.

Cagle collected more than $600,000 during the period, also a strong showing for a lieutenant governor candidate.

The Democrats in the race have had fund-raising success of their own. Former state Sen. Greg Hecht reported taking in $426,000. And former state Rep. Jim Martin, an Atlanta Democrat who once headed the state Department of Human Resources, raised more than $200,000 in about a month since he joined the lieutenant governor's race.

—Staff writer Nancy Badertscher contributed to this article.