Written by Michael Goot for The Post Star on July 14, 2020
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, has raised nearly $1 million more than Democratic challenger Tedra Cobb in the second quarter of this year.
Stefanik had collected $1.6 million in donations in April, May and June, compared with $657,000 for Cobb. Stefanik had $4.45 million worth of cash in the bank.
Neither candidate has filed an official quarterly report with the Federal Election Commission. The document is due on Wednesday.
Stefanik’s campaign on Monday sent out a news release highlighting the fundraising numbers that appeared in The Wall Street Journal over the weekend.
She had 31,655 total donors this quarter — nearly 20,000 of whom were new contributors. The average donation was $33, according to the campaign.
The article said Stefanik is on track to raise $10 million in her re-election bid. She currently has the largest war chest of any Republican in the state and has more money in the bank than Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro raised during his campaign for governor in 2018, according to a news release.
Cobb, of Canton, has $2.69 million on hand for the election. The campaign has raised a total of $3.9 million this election cycle.
Cobb said she is proud of the grassroots support her campaign has received.
“We have raised nearly $4 million for this race without a dime of corporate PAC money. My opponent accepts cash from the worst corporate actors out there — the pharmaceutical companies who have profited from the opioid crisis; health insurance companies who want to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions; and even Betsy DeVos, who has threatened to eliminate funding for schools during a global pandemic,” Cobb said in a news release. “I won’t be bought by them, or anyone else. This campaign will continue to be fueled by real people who are ready for change.”
Cobb added that the campaign has made 754,000 voter outreach calls. Stefanik had a similar fundraising advantage in the first quarter, raising $1.5 million compared with $557,000 for Cobb. Through the first six months of this year, both candidates have raised less than they raised in the fourth quarter of 2019 alone. Stefanik’s and Cobb’s fundraising shot into the stratosphere late last year after Stefanik took on a high-profile role while questioning witnesses during the impeachment inquiry involving President Donald Trump.
At that time, Stefanik pulled in $3.2 million and Cobb brought in $2 million from donors across the country.
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