BALTIMORE — Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore, who’s built a commanding lead over Republican Dan Cox heading into Election Day, raised $5.8 million in the last two months to bring his fundraising haul to $7.5 million since winning the nomination in July — most of which he has kept in the bank, campaign finance reports show.
Moore’s fundraising prowess has helped fuel an aggressive general election effort in which he’s expanded his campaign staff, traveled the state and filled voters’ television screens with ads in the major media markets.
Although nearly $1.7 million of the Democrat and his running mate’s $3.1 million expenses in recent months were for TV, digital and other types of ads, Cox has had a virtually nonexistent advertising presence as the nominees both try to win over voters with mail-in and early in-person voting underway.
Cox and his running mate raised $592,000 and spent $274,000 in the past two months, according to the reports filed Friday.
The conservative from Frederick County has consistently lagged his opponents in the money race, raising 10 times less than Moore in both the most recent fundraising period and the previous one that ran from July to August.
Instead of ads, Cox spent tens of thousands of dollars on a failed lawsuit to stop the earlier counting of mail-in ballots in Maryland and a fundraiser at former Republican President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Cox’s latest reports show he paid $24,196 to host the fundraiser at Trump’s home, where the price of entry for the private cocktail reception was $1,776. For $25,000, donors could appear in a photo with Cox and the former president. Maryland’s individual campaign donation limit is $6,000, and Cox’s campaign has not explained how those larger donations might be received.
The campaign report, which covers fundraising and spending from Aug. 23 to Oct. 24, does not specifically identify how much Cox raised at the event with Trump, but it lists 58 instances in which donors gave $1,776.
Cox’s expenses listed $19,000 for legal fees to the attorney who represented him in his mail-in ballots case against the Maryland State Board of Elections.
Political observers say Cox’s association with Trump — who lost to Democratic President Joe Biden by 33 percentage points in Maryland — and his far-right positions on issues such as abortion give him long odds to win in a state with more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans. A Baltimore Sun Media and the University of Baltimore poll of likely voters Oct. 20-23 found Moore leading Cox by 31 percentage points.
Still, Moore’s campaign has said he’s not taking anything for granted. His and lieutenant governor nominee Aruna Miller’s latest campaign finance reports appear to back that up.
“This report is just another indication that we’re still working like we’re 10 points behind, and continuing to do the work necessary to win this election in November,” Moore said in a statement Friday.
In addition to the ads — one evokes his service in the Army; another features an endorsement from former President Barack Obama — Moore has spent $484,000 on staff salaries and expenses and $200,000 on a consulting firm in recent months, the reports show.
Moore and Miller had $4 million in the bank about two weeks before Election Day. Cox and Republican lieutenant governor nominee Gordana Schifanelli had $159,000 left.
Anthony Brown’s fundraising swamps GOP foe in attorney general race
U.S. Rep. Anthony Brown, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, reported a balance of $491,000 Friday in comparison to Republican Michael Peroutka’s $11,800.
Brown and Peroutka are seeking the seat being vacated by Democratic Attorney General Brian Frosh, who is retiring after two four-year terms. Brown led Peroutka 60% to 28% in the Sun/UB poll.
Since the previous campaign finance report, Brown raised $514,000. His campaign spent $103,000 in the past two months. Peroutka’s raised $68,000 and spent $92,000 in that time.
Brooke Lierman leads the way in state comptroller battle
In the race to be Maryland’s next comptroller, Democratic nominee Brooke Lierman, a state delegate representing neighborhoods in South Baltimore, outraised Republican Harford County Executive Barry Glassman by $719,000.
Lierman’s latest campaign finance report was 200 pages, more than half of which listed donations. Glassman’s report was 20 pages.
Lierman, who has had fundraising success throughout her campaign, showed $484,000 on hand with two weeks left in the race after raising $762,000 since August. Her campaign spent $500,000 in that period, including $339,000 on media consulting, videos and TV and online advertising.
Glassman raised $43,000 and spent nearly $200,000 — mostly on media consultations — since late August. He reported having $287,000 on hand as of Oct. 24.
Lierman led Glassman 57% to 29% in the Sun/UB poll as the pair vie to replace four-term Comptroller Peter Franchot, who is leaving the office after an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign.
The statewide survey of 562 Democratic, 247 Republican and 180 unaffiliated likely voters was conducted by phone and online Oct. 20-23. Its margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
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