Rand Paul raises four times more than Charles Booker during first quarter
Rand Paul raised four times more money than Charles Booker during the first three months of the year, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The Republican senator reported banking $3.4 million between January and the end of March for his re-election this fall. Booker, the leading Democrat challenging Paul, collected just $836,900.
It leaves Booker with just $527,603 in the bank compared to Paul’s $8.6 million warchest.
The cavernous cash gap will allow Paul to advertise more widely as the campaign moves into the spring and summer months. During the last three months, Booker reported spending $727,859; Paul spent more than $2.8 million.
The filings come just about one month before Kentuckians will formally choose their party nominees in the May 17 primary.
Booker’s campaign warned of the financial deficit he faces in a fundraising email it blasted out on Friday.
“It’s irrefutable evidence that there will be no expense spared in order to try to attack Charles and protect Rand’s seat. They’re scared because they realize a historic grassroots movement is rising up in Kentucky to turn our Commonwealth blue,” the Booker email blast said. “So this month, we’re answering Rand’s dark money donations with a wave of grassroots fundraising.”
Paul deputy campaign manager Jake Cox said the incumbent’s fundraising success demonstrates that “Kentuckians want someone who won’t defund the police and force our communities into further Covid lockdowns.”
Polling of the race has been sparse but a Mason-Dixon survey taken in January showed Paul with a 16-point lead over Booker, who will become Kentucky’s first Black nominee for the U.S. Senate.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Rand Paul raises four times more than Charles Booker during first quarter."
