Two weeks before the Nov. 7 Kentucky gubernatorial election, incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) campaign had raised nearly three times and spent more than four times the amount Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) had since the May 16 primaries, according to the most recent campaign finance reports filed on Oct. 25.
The reports, filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, showed the Beshear campaign raised $850K in the period between Oct. 8 and Oct. 23., while Cameron raised $481K in the same period.
Including the most recent numbers, the Beshear campaign had raised around $11M since the May 16 primaries. Beshear, who did not face a competitive primary, also rolled nearly $6M from his primary campaign to his general election effort, bringing his campaign’s fundraising total in the general election to $17.3M. These numbers do not include “in-kind” contributions.
Cameron, meanwhile, had raised $3.8M since he won the competitive Republican primary back in May, reports showed. That number included around $15K Cameron rolled from his primary campaign.
Beshear’s campaign spent nearly $2.1M in the two-week period leading to Oct. 23, while Cameron’s spent $1M. Those numbers brought Beshear’s total expenditures to $16.7M since the general election campaign began, more than four times the $3.4M Cameron spent in that timespan.
After expenditures, the Beshear campaign had an ending balance of $670K as of Oct. 23, while the Cameron campaign had an ending balance of $425K.
Including primary spending, the candidates running for Kentucky governor had collectively raised more than $41M as of Sept. 28, more than any other gubernatorial election in Kentucky history, according to OpenSecrets. The number (which includes amounts raised by primary candidates who did not advance to the general election) is more than $4M higher than the previous record of $37M set in 2007.
