Mark Sanford Outraises Curtis Bostic Fifteen-to-One
In this Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 photo, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford talks with Associated Press reporters in his office in Columbia, S.C. about his time in office and his future. (AP Photo/Virginia Postic)
Former Charleston County Councilor Curtis Bostic continues to be outpaced in fundraising by former Gov. Mark Sanford in South Carolina's First District special election, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday. Sanford outraised his GOP runoff opponent by more than fifteen-to-one during the pre-runoff period, which ran from February 28 to March 13 -- six days before the primary, in which Bostic finished a surprising second in the sixteen-candidate field.
Sanford raised $78,521 in the two-week pre-runoff period and ended with $271,765 in the bank, while Bostic reported a paltry $5,205 haul and loaned his own campaign another $50,000. Bostic has now loaned his campaign $150,000 and he finished the period with $56,542 on hand.
The reporting period ended days before Bostic became Sanford's main competition for the Republican nomination, and though consultants told Hotline On Call that they saw the former county councilor surging in the final days of the primary race, it's unlikely that potential contributors did. However, 48-hour reports filed with the Federal Election Commission since the primary don't paint a very sunny picture for Bostic either. His campaign has reported a total haul of just $3,500 in those reports, which must be filed for all contributions over $1,000 between now and the next reporting deadline, according to FEC regulations. Sanford has not yet filed any reports showing money raised after the primary.
But Bostic's campaign manager David O'Connell remains optimistic and said that he fully expects Bostic will be outraised by Sanford, even though "money has been pouring into" Bostic's campaign.
"I'm not at all concerned about Mark Sanford outraising us since we just came out of a 16 way primary and were out spent by a staggering margin and still secured our place in the runoff," O'Connell said, in a statement to On Call. "We will be out-fundraised and out spent again by Mark Sanford during the runoff, but I'm confident that our positive message of stopping runaway spending and restoring trust to Washington D.C. will provide us the necessary support to win the republican (sic) nomination."
The next full FEC report is not due until April 15, almost two weeks after the April 2 runoff.
Leave A Comment