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In case you missed it, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin just announced a behemoth fundraising quarter, raising more than $1.3 million and solidifying her strength in the race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District.
Slotkin’s monster haul includes having $5.5 million on hand and outraising Tom Barrett almost three times over – but that’s probably not the only reason Barrett’s upset. Newly reported audio in the Washington Examiner reveals Barrett’s team fell far short of their own internal goal, not even making it halfway to the million dollars they were hoping to raise in the first quarter.
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Washington Examiner: Democratic Rep. Slotkin draws big campaign cash in bid for Michigan toss-up seat
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Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin raised more than $1.3 million in the first quarter, swamping her likely Republican challenger in Michigan’s newly configured 7th Congressional District, Tom Barrett, while growing her war chest to $5.5 million.
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Slotkin, first elected in the 2018 Democratic House wave by beating a GOP incumbent, is bracing for a fight in a new swing district, which, as drawn, slightly favors Republicans. But the congresswoman remains confident about her prospects in a midterm election shaping up as a rebuke of President Joe Biden.
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In detailing figures first shared with the Washington Examiner, Slotkin’s campaign emphasized that 89% of the $1.3 million raised flowed from grassroots donors who contributed $100 or less, with 0% coming from corporate political action committees.
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Slotkin’s first-quarter haul more than doubled the money raised by Barrett, a state senator who is expected to emerge from the Aug. 2 primary. The Republican raised $458,000 in January, February, and March, and in a press release issued Monday, he trumpeted more than $750,000 in the past four and a half months from over 12,500 donors, with the average donation clocking in at $60 each.
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“I’m overwhelmed by the number of people who have invested in our campaign,” Barrett, a state senator, said in a statement.
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But as it turns out, the Barrett campaign might not be as satisfied with his first-quarter numbers as the candidate’s comments suggest. During a Republican gathering in Eaton County in February, Barrett’s legislative chief of staff, Ron Kendall, said in remarks caught on tape that the campaign’s goal was to raise $1 million in the first quarter.
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“We announced just before Thanksgiving, you know, really, you know, we chained him to a desk and had him on the phones, and he raised, you know, 310 grand,” Kendall said in a sound clip provided to the Washington Examiner by a Democratic operative. “He’s raising more money now — our goal is a million by the end of March. No short venture, but we know it’s going to be an expensive race.”
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