Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel and former Rep. Nathan Deal, competing in a Republican runoff primary for governor, have both pulled in about half a million dollars since the first round of primary voting last week, their campaigns said Wednesday.
Handel adviser Robert Simms notified fundraisers of the total in an e-mail message Wednesday morning, writing that Handel “raised $500,000 in one week, surpassing our total for the last fundraising quarter.” Deal spokesman Brian Robinson told POLITICO that as of Tuesday night, the former congressman had raised $498,000 since the July 20 vote.
Handel adviser Robert Simms notified fundraisers of the total in an e-mail message Wednesday morning, writing that Handel “raised $500,000 in one week, surpassing our total for the last fundraising quarter.” Deal spokesman Brian Robinson told POLITICO that as of Tuesday night, the former congressman had raised $498,000 since the July 20 vote.
Both Handel and Deal depleted their campaign accounts before last week's election: Handel finished with just $66,648 in the bank and Deal had $43,590.
The new influx of campaign funds will allow Handel to go on the air for the first time since the primary, and a campaign source confirmed she has a television ad — only her second of the cycle — planned for Thursday. Deal has already aired one television ad in the runoff, a spot that featured the congressman criticizing federal spending, alongside his young grandsons.
Neither candidate has been in full control of their message, however, and Deal's campaign was rocked Tuesday evening by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report that a federal grand jury had called one state official to testify in an investigation of Deal's vehicle salvage business and its work with the state government.
Robinson dismissed the story, insisting that Deal “is not under subpoena and further, we have been assured that we are not the target of an investigation. There’s not a fire burning here.”
A political blogger also filed an ethics complaint against Handel, alleging that she illegally paid her gubernatorial campaign staff with funds from an old campaign account — from her secretary of state bid — before she officially announced her plans to run for higher office.?
Handel spokesman Dan McLagan dismissed the complaint, saying the charges were meritless and calling the source a “rabid anti-Karen person” who is “literally a blogger who lives in his mom’s basement.”
http://www.politico.com//news/stories/0710/40340.html
The new influx of campaign funds will allow Handel to go on the air for the first time since the primary, and a campaign source confirmed she has a television ad — only her second of the cycle — planned for Thursday. Deal has already aired one television ad in the runoff, a spot that featured the congressman criticizing federal spending, alongside his young grandsons.
Neither candidate has been in full control of their message, however, and Deal's campaign was rocked Tuesday evening by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report that a federal grand jury had called one state official to testify in an investigation of Deal's vehicle salvage business and its work with the state government.
Robinson dismissed the story, insisting that Deal “is not under subpoena and further, we have been assured that we are not the target of an investigation. There’s not a fire burning here.”
A political blogger also filed an ethics complaint against Handel, alleging that she illegally paid her gubernatorial campaign staff with funds from an old campaign account — from her secretary of state bid — before she officially announced her plans to run for higher office.?
Handel spokesman Dan McLagan dismissed the complaint, saying the charges were meritless and calling the source a “rabid anti-Karen person” who is “literally a blogger who lives in his mom’s basement.”
http://www.politico.com//news/stories/0710/40340.html