Beshear raises $1.27 million for campaign so far in 2011

FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and his running mate, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, raised $1.27 million in the first three months of this year for their campaign.

The total raised by the Beshear-Abramson campaign so far is $4.8 million. It reported having $3.3 million on hand in the campaign's quarterly finance update, filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

"I am grateful for the support of Kentuckians of our hard work to bring economic recovery and prosperity to every community," Beshear said in a statement. "Though I remain focused on creating jobs and running an efficient and lean state government, I am nevertheless pleased with the campaign's fund-raising success."

The campaign said in a news release that it has received donations from more than 7,700 contributors from all 120 counties in the state.

The Beshear-Abramson ticket is unopposed in the May 17 Democratic primary election.

Republican tickets for the state's highest office are Senate President David Williams, with state Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer as his running mate; Louisville businessman Phil Moffett with state Rep. Mike Harmon of Danville; and Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw with Bill Vermillion, a former Navy veteran from Caneyville.

No GOP ticket has matched Beshear in raising money. The candidates' latest campaign finance reports are due by Wednesday.

Williams has banked more than $1 million so far, and Moffett has taken in less than $100,000. Holsclaw's campaign reported last week that her campaign collected just $7,240 during its first two full months, but she said she will amend it to reflect fund-raisers that were not included in the initial total.

This story was originally published April 19, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Beshear raises $1.27 million for campaign so far in 2011."