Jones outraises Tuberville in August; Tuberville retains large funding edge

Democrats and Republicans running for Alabama statewide offices largely kept pace with each other in August, the last month before the kickoff of the fall campaign season.

According to campaign finance reports filed this week, Democratic and Republican candidates for governor, lieutenant governor secretary of state and commissioner of agriculture and industries are mostly evenly matched with the attorney general race being the only outlier.

Governor

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones outraised Republican nominee Sen. Tommy Tuberville in August, according to campaign finance reports. Jones raised $1.1 million while Tuberville raised $848,500 last month.

Jones also outraised Tuberville in July, receiving $622,000 in donations in July to Tuberville’s $290,000. However, Tuberville retains a substantial fundraising edge, finishing the month with $9.5 million on hand to Jones’ $2.5 million. Tuberville also spent more than Jones in August spending $573,200 while Jones spent $252,900.

Messages seeking comment were left with Tuberville and Jones Thursday.

Both candidates received major campaign contributions in August with Tuberville receiving a total of $315,000 and Jones receiving $20,000.

Tuberville did not receive any money from political action committees (PAC) last month but did receive $25,000 from Applied Digital Corporation, a Dallas-based data center development company, and a $100,000 donation from VGW Luckyland, a sweepstakes company from Colorado. Jones received $21,200 in PAC donations including $1,000 from the Blount County Democratic Club and $5,000 from the United Steel Workers.

Attorney General

Republican nominee Katherine Robertson has consistently outperformed her Democratic opponent Jeff McLaughlin in campaign donations, raising $180,300 last month.

A message seeking comment was left with Robertson Thursday. 

McLaughlin, who has been running a low-profile campaign, saw a significant increase in his campaign donations going from $100 raised in July to nearly $14,000 in August. A message seeking comment was left with McLaughlin Thursday.

Robertson received a $25,000 major campaign contribution in August and a total of $136,000 in PAC money including $10,000 from the Alabama Power Co. Employees State PAC; $50,000 from the Alabama Realtors PAC and $2,500 from the Boeing Company PAC. McLaughlin has not received any PAC contributions; he has traditionally refused to accept campaign contributions. 

McLaughlin did not spend any money last month. Robertson spent $15,800 last month leaving her with $197,000 on hand.

Lieutenant Governor

Republican nominee John Wahl raised $140,200 last month while Democratic nominee Phillip Ensler raised $41,500. Wahl also maintains the lead with cash on hand with $214,200 to Ensler’s $96,000.

Messages seeking comment were left with Wahl and Ensler Thursday.

In August, both candidates received PAC money. Wahl received $47,700 from PACs including $2,500 from the Alabama Federation of Republican Women PAC Account; $25,000 from Progress PAC and $10,000 from the ABC Merit PAC.

Ensler received less in PAC donations, including $1,000 from the Alabama AFL-CIO PAC; $1,000 from the Alabama CPA PAC and $2,750 from the Persistence PAC.

Last week, Ensler criticized Wahl’s campaign for receiving PAC donations saying his July fundraising “made some special interests nervous” in a fundraising email.

In July, Ensler raised $27,800 to Wahl’s $52,100, with $25,000 of Wahl’s money coming from a major campaign contribution.

Wahl also spent more than Ensler last month. Campaign finances show he spent $70,400 while Ensler spent $43,600.

Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries

Ron Sparks, the Democratic nominee for commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, out-raised his Republican opponent Corey Hill.

According to campaign finance records, Sparks, a former Democratic gubernatorial nominee who served as agriculture commissioner from 2003 to 2011, raised $29,500 to Hill’s $23,250 in August.

While Hill outpaced Sparks in fundraising in July raising $11,700 to Sparks’ $9,000, both candidates raised over $11,000 in June.

Sparks said in an interview Thursday evening the money he raised came from working hard to spread his campaign message.

“It just goes to show that the the people of Alabama have an interest in this race, and and I think they look at the job that we did, and we’re working hard and trying to raise as much as we can to get our message out,” Sparks said.

A message seeking comment was left with Hill Thursday.

Hill received $10,900 in PAC donations last month including $2,000 from the Alabama Beef PAC and $2,500 from the Alabama Federation of Republican Women PAC. Sparks received $15,000 in PAC contributions, including $10,000 from the Alabama AFL-CIO PAC and $5,000 from the IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund.

Hill spent significantly less money than Sparks did last month, with only $8,100 compared to Sparks’ $33,500.

Secretary of State

Democratic Secretary of State nominee Wayne Rogers also outraised his opponent Caroleen Dobson last month with $6,200 to Dobson’s $5,600. However, Dobson maintains a large cash on hand edge, with over $470,000 to Rogers’ $18,200. Dobson also spent more than Rogers spending $47,100 while Rogers spent $1,300. 

A message was left with Dobson Thursday afternoon. Rogers said in an interview Thursday that he was “pleased” with the money he raised.

“We have not done a whole lot of fundraisers or anything lately. Just have a lot of folks that are really good people that want to see us do well, and and I appreciate all the help that we got (last) month,” Rogers said.

Both candidates got donations from PACs.  Dobson received $3,500 in PAC contributions including $1,000 from the Alabama CPA PAC and $2,500 from the Alabama Credit Union Legislative Action Council while Rogers received $2,7500 from the Persistence PAC.