Republican state Rep. Barry Fleming continues to rake in campaign donations in his quest to unseat congressman Paul Broun in the 10th Congressional District.
Since the Dec. 31 filing with the Federal Elections Commission, Mr. Fleming said, he has added well more than $100,000.
"We're probably starting to knock on the door of $700,000," he said. "We're organized in all 21 counties. We have a county chairman in every county, and I have visited every county three or four times. The response has been overwhelming."
Mr. Broun said he's raised considerably more money since the December report was filed, but he doesn't know how much more.
"I'm spending most of my time trying to take care of my job, representing the people of the CSRA and the district," he said. "I'm the congressman of the people, not the congressman of the people in Atlanta and the political bosses."
Tenth District Democratic candidate Bobby Saxon was campaigning late Thursday and unavailable for an interview, his campaign manager said.
In the 12th Congressional District race, Democratic incumbent John Barrow has raised $1.1 million, with $636,325 of that from political action committees and $445,986 from individual contributions.
His Republican challenger, John Stone, has raised $36,600 so far, but he isn't deterred by the discrepancy.
"We're going to be outspent two-to-one before this race is over, and we're still going to win," he said.
Mr. Stone, the former deputy chief of staff and communications director for the late 10th District U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, contends Mr. Barrow's contributors are getting their money's worth. He said Mr. Barrow's recent vote on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act exposed telecommunications companies to unlimited liability for voluntarily cooperating with efforts to discover overseas terrorists.
Mr. Barrow said the bill actually doesn't cover telecommunications liability and that he will vote for a Senate version of the bill if it reaches the House floor.
"The idea I voted for no immunity is not true," he said. "I'm not going to vote against the security of the American people."
Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com.
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
Local candidates reported the following contributions to their political campaigns through Dec. 31, 2007:
10TH DISTRICT:
Democrat:
- William Marvin "Bobby" Saxon: $60,550
Republican:
- Incumbent Paul Broun: $686,179 ($209,000 loan)
- Barry Fleming: $563,475
12TH DISTRICT:
Democrat:
- Incumbent John Barrow: $1,137,668
Republican:
- John E. Stone II: $36,600
- Ray McKinney: No report on file
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