W. Va. — The top contenders for Democrat Joe Manchin’s U.S. Senate seat are spending millions to reach their goal.
Manchin and GOP hopeful Don Blankenship were tops for the most recent Federal Election Commission filing period, the pre-primary, covering April 1-18 and due April 26 — 12 days before Tuesday’s primary election.
Both had spent more than $2.5 million to date during the entire primary election cycle. Coming in a distant second were Republicans Patrick Morrisey and Evan Jenkins, spending more than $1 million each.
Manchin’s Democrat opponent, Paula Jean Swearengin, is barely on the financial radar, spending about 1 percent of Manchin’s total. Three GOP candidates are even farther off the map, not even bothering to file FEC reports.
The winner of the Manchin-Swearengin contest will face the winner of the Jenkins-Morrisey-Blankenship contest in November.
Democrats
Joe Manchin
Manchin entered the reporting period with $5,436,712.52 cash on hand and took in $224,681.65, giving him $5,661,394.17.
He spent $317,028.08, leaving a balance of $5,344,366.09.
Of his contributions this period, $159,318.93 came from individuals and $10,000 from PACs. The remainder came from transfers from other committees.
Of his individual donations, 106 came from out-of-state donors, totaling $121,090 — 76 percent of the total. Donors hailed from 18 states, Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands.
The top two states were New York, with 30 donations totaling $57,400, and Colorado, with 26 donations totaling $24,400.
To date, Manchin spent $2,631,447.48.
Paula Jean Swearengin
Swearengin’s report was not yet posted. In its place was a letter from the FEC dated April 27, telling her she’d missed the deadline and had four days to file. The figures here come from her prior report, the April quarterly, filed April 17.
Swearengin entered that period with $57,041.46 cash on hand and raised another $39,564.41, giving her $96,605.87.
She spent $42,645.57, leaving a balance of $53,960.30.
All of her donations came from individuals, none from PACs. She received 24 out-of-state donations totaling $4,785 — 12 percent of the total. Donations came from eight states; New York was the top state, with 10 donations totaling $1,517.
To date, Swearengin spent $42,645.57.That’s 1.6 percent of Manchin’s total.
Republicans
Don Blankenship
Blankenship, the former coal executive who spent a year in federal prison for a misdemeanor charge of conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws following the 2009 Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 miners, has been funding his own campaign.
His report lists $3,515,000 in loans to himself.
This period, he took in a single $1,000 contribution from a North Carolina donor. He gave himself $1.5 million.
He entered the period with $214,229.34 cash on hand and took in $1,500,038.25 for a total $1,715,267.59.
He spent $1,046,689.79, leaving a balance of $668,577.80.
To date, Blankenship spent $2,848,640.45 — about $217,000 more than Manchin.
Evan Jenkins
Jenkins is giving up his 3rd District Congressional seat to run for this office.
He entered this period with $1,339,823.64 cash on hand and raised another $40,422.30, giving him $1,380,245.94.
He spent $563,050.71, leaving a balance of $817,195.23.
Of his contributions, $39,415 came from individuals and $1,000 from PACs.
Of his donations from individuals, Jenkins received 13 from out-of-state totaling $29,250 — 74 percent of his total. Donations came from four states, with California tops: eight gifts totaling $21,600. Florida was second with three totaling $6,900.
To date, Jenkins spent $1,380,480.95 — about 48 percent of Blankenship’s total.
Patrick Morrisey
West Virginia’s attorney general entered this period with $1,297,770.50 cash on hand and raised $92,210.92, giving him $1,389,981.42.
He spent $554,720.64, leaving him $835,260.78.
Of his donations for the period, $70,351.09 came from individuals and $2,500 from PACs. He gave himself $459.83 and the remainder comes from transfers from other committees.
Of his individual donations, 53 came from out-of-state donors hailing from 13 states and Washington. D.C. Their gift totaled $48,945, 69.5 percent of the total. Virginia was the top state, with 17 gifts totaling $12,340. Four gifts totaling $13,500 came from Tennessee, and seven from D.C. totaled $5,700.
To date, Morrisey spent $1,065,046.98 — about $315,000 less than Jenkins and about 37 percent of Blankenship’s total.
Other GOP
Republicans Bo Copley, Jack Newbrough and Tom Willis do not have reports filed with the FEC.
