Republican Congressman Roger Marshall led all GOP candidates for U.S. Senate in first-quarter fundraising and has accumulated one of the biggest nest eggs heading into the primary.
However, the Republican field on balance is still struggling to keep pace with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Bollier, who hauled in nearly $2.4 million for a single quarter.
Together, Marshall, former Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Senate President Susan Wagle and former Johnson County Commissioner David Lindstrom raised about $800,000 combined for the quarter.
The field tops Bollier if you add in political novice and Overland Park businessman Bob Hamilton, who laid out $2 million of his own money in the Republican primary.
Hamilton, who just joined the Senate race last month in what the Marshall campaign called a “vanity project,” reported raising about $156,000 from individual donations. He has about $2.1 million in the bank.
Marshall, meanwhile, raised about $376,909 for the quarter, which was up from the $217,797 he raised in the last quarter of 2019 but down from the $572,939 in the third quarter of last year.
Back in January, Marshall announced that he had raised $250,000 within three days of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deciding not to run for U.S. Senate.
Marshall campaign manager Eric Pahls said the congressman has been focused on fighting the coronavirus since late January.
He also said the campaign canceled several major campaign fundraising events in March out of health concerns.
“Despite this crisis, we still earned the support of 700 first-time donors and have the highest total raised in this primary by a mile,” Pahls said.
Kobach, meanwhile, pulled in $242,156, which was an improvement from the $102,743 he raised in the fourth quarter of last year but less than the $250,038 he raised in the third quarter.
Wagle, who has been lagging behind Marshall and Kobach in the polls, raised about $100,917 in the first quarter. It was her worst performance to date.
It was less than the $104,676 she raised in the last quarter of 2019 and down from the $247,886 she brought in from individual donors during the third quarter.
Lindstrom, meanwhile, raised $79,374 last quarter, compared to $119,249 for the final quarter of 2019 and $250,931 for the third quarter, which also included a $100,000 loan.
Until Hamilton’s entrance into the primary race, Marshall had the healthiest campaign fund of any Republican candidate, and he is still sitting on about $1.9 million.
Kobach reported having $317,044 on hand at the end of March, while Wagle had $515,127, of which about $275,000 is her own money.
Lindstrom had $266,440 in the bank, buoyed by $140,000 in loans he gave his campaign.
