Lamontagne has more cash than Hassan headed into campaign’s final week

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Republican Ovide Lamontagne entered the final week of the gubernatorial campaign with nearly three times as much cash on hand as Democrat Maggie Hassan, even though Hassan has raised far more money since the Sept. 11 primary, according to campaign-finance reports filed yesterday with the secretary of state’s office.

As of Monday, Lamontagne had more than $179,000 on hand, compared with nearly $66,000 for Hassan’s campaign.

Other reports filed yesterday showed the state Democratic Party with far more cash on hand than the state GOP, and Republican House and Senate campaign committees armed with more money than their Democratic counterparts in the run-up to Tuesday’s election.

Hassan, a former state senator from Exeter, raised nearly $1.1 million ahead of the Sept. 11 primary but spent nearly all of it to defeat fellow Democrat Jackie Cilley and capture the nomination. She entered the general-election campaign against Lamontagne, a Manchester attorney and former chairman of the state Board of Education, with just $16,000 on hand, compared with Lamontagne’s war chest of $258,000.

She started to close the gap in the weeks following the primary, out-raising Lamontagne and reporting a little more than $134,000 on hand as of Oct. 15, when the campaigns’ last reports were filed. At the time, Lamontagne’s campaign reported having nearly $286,000 on hand.

Over the next two weeks, Lamontagne raised more than $183,000 and spent nearly $290,000, according to his filing yesterday. Hassan raised nearly $261,000 and spent more than $329,000, according to her report.

In total, Hassan has raised more than $1.8 million for her gubernatorial campaign through Monday, compared with nearly $1.76 million raised by Lamontagne. She raised more than $731,000 following the Sept. 11 primary, nearly $246,000 more than the $485,000 raised by Lamontagne in the same period.

Even those amounts, however, have been dwarfed by millions of dollars in outside spending in the race by the Republican Governors Association, the Democratic Governors Association, labor unions and other groups ahead of Tuesday’s election.

A third gubernatorial candidate, libertarian John Babiarz of Grafton, reported a campaign deficit of $689.93 as of Monday.

Yesterday’s filings were the last time that state candidates, campaigns and political action committees had to file full-fledged campaign-finance reports ahead of Tuesday’s election. Under state law, any new contributions of more than $500 must be reported within 24 hours.

The reports provide a snapshot of the money race, up and down the ballot, as the fall campaign entered its final week.

The New Hampshire Republican State Committee reported having nearly $43,000 on hand as of Monday, a number dwarfed by the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s war chest of more than $762,000.

The House Republican Victory PAC reported having nearly $76,000 in the bank, far more than the nearly $12,000 in cash on hand reported by its counterpart, the Committee to Elect House Democrats. The GOP group had nearly $129,000 on hand as of Oct. 15, nearly twice as much as the $67,000 on hand then for the House Democrats. Since then, the Democratic group has spent more than $66,000 and raised nearly $11,000, compared with more than $76,000 spent and $23,000 raised by the Republican group.

The Republican Senate Majority Committee, meanwhile, reported having nearly $42,000 on hand versus nearly $27,000 on hand for the New Hampshire Senate Democratic Caucus. The Republican group had nearly $69,000 on hand two weeks ago, trailing the Democratic caucus’s $72,000; the Democrats reported spending more than $164,000 since then, compared with more than $82,000 spent by the GOP group.

Only about half the state Senate candidates filed their campaign reports by yesterday’s 5 p.m. deadline. In several Senate races in the Concord area, Democrats are easily winning the money race.

Sen. Sylvia Larsen, a Concord Democrat, raised nearly $4,800 since mid-October and has $13,000 on hand. Her opponent, Republican Lydia Harman of Warner, raised $2,000 and has $744 left.

Harman’s biggest contributor was former House member Richard “Stretch” Kennedy, a Contoocook Republican who is seeking re-election. He gave Harman $1,000. Riley’s Sport Shop in Hooksett gave her $400, while she got $250 each from Sen. Jeb Bradley, a Wolfeboro Republican, and Rep. Dan McGuire, an Epsom Republican.

In the District 7 race, which includes Franklin, Laconia and the towns west of Concord, Democrat Andrew Hosmer of Laconia raised $9,000 and has $19,500 on hand. Challenger Josh Youssef, a Laconia Republican, raised $3,375 and has $2,610 on hand.

Youssef’s biggest donation, $1,000, came from Reed Larson, the former head of the National Right to Work Committee. Concord developer Steve Duprey contributed $500 to Youssef’s campaign. Youssef’s biggest expense was the $2,220 he paid Executive Councilor David Wheeler of Milford for “distribution,” which Youssef said including mailing, printing and postage.

Duprey, a member of the Republican National Committee, said he has donated to more than 20 Republican candidates in the state Senate and beyond.

“I look forward to electing Mitt Romney as president, Ovide as governor . . . and keeping strong majorities in the state Senate and House,” he said.

Hosmer received several contributions from political action committees including those representing doctors and the New Hampshire Association of Justice. He made his biggest expenditure yesterday: a $5,000 donation to the New Hampshire Senate Democratic Caucus.

The District 17 Senate race to the east of Concord is more evenly matched in terms of campaign cash.

Republican Rep. John Reagan of Deerfield raised $7,550 since mid-October and has $4,217 remaining. Democrat Nancy Fraher of Chichester raised $2,100 and has $5,700 left.

Among Reagan’s bigger expenses was the $3,220 he reimbursed himself for mileage “at (the) federal rate,” according to his filing. One of Fraher’s bigger expenses was the $2,200 she paid the Democratic caucus as “payment for campaign manager.”

(Ben Leubsdorf can be reached at 369-3307 or bleubsdorf@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @BenLeubsdorf. Annmarie Timmins can be reached at 369-3323 or atimmins@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @annmarietimmins.)