Wulsin the early-money champ

UPDATED - Read statements from the campaigns at the bottom of this blog

Not only has Democrat Victoria Wulsin raised more money than 2nd Congressional District rival Steve Black, she has about three times as much money in the bank as the district’s incumbent Republican, Rep. Jean Schmidt, according to campaign finance reports.

Year-end federal campaign finance reports filed this week showed that, in 2007, Wulsin raised just over $500,000 and had $344,316 in cash-on-hand at year’s end.

Schmidt, who raised nearly $370,000 last year, ended 2007 with $124,857 in the bank.
The Republican incumbent may be lagging in fundraising behind Wulsin, her opponent in the 2006 election, but she has a distinct advantage over her principal opponent in the March 4 GOP primary.

State Rep. Tom Brinkman of Mt. Lookout, reported only $4,820 in contributions last year.

Wulsin’s principal challenger in the March 4 Democratic primary is Steve Black, who, like Wulsin, is an Indian Hill Democrat.

Black raised $320,095 in 2007 and had $223,536 in the bank as of Dec. 31.
There are two other candidates on the ballot in the 2nd District primary – Nathan Bailey on the Republican side and William R. Smith on the Democratic ballot. Neither reported raising any money in 2007.

The 2nd congressional district includes eastern Cincinnati neighborhoods, eastern Hamilton County, parts of Warren county and all of Clermont, Brown and Adams counties.

Schmidt's campaign had raised $379,691 by the end of 2007, but reported cash-on-hand of only $124,857 and a debt of $277,150, mostly money she and her family lent to her campaign.

Read Wulsin's statement here

Read Schmidt's statement here

Tom Brinkman's statement:
Cincinnati, OH. - State Representative and Congressional Candidate Tom Brinkman released his campaign finance reports for the end of last year. As expected, his cash on hand in his Congressional campaign account was just under $5500.

"I didn't enter the race until mid December", said Brinkman, "This is financial activity for only a couple of weeks through December. Fundraising has picked up significantly since then, and has been booming since Mr. Heimlich dropped from the race."

Campaign Coordinator Jason Gloyd felt confident about the race. "We are operating on a budget similar to the 2005 and that will make us very competitive. Tom's message has really been resonating with voters. This financial report is month old news, money and volunteers have been streaming in since. Let's face it", said Gloyd, "Having $5000 on hand feels better than $124,000 minus $277,000 in debt."

From Dan Herkert, campaign manager for Steve Black:

"As a first time candidate, Steve is performing extremely well. We are very pleased with what we have raised. We have everything that we need to run a successful campaign."

"Our opponent - this is her third campaign - so obviously she has more fundraising contacts. It's not surprising that she raised more."

Herkert declined to say whether Black planned to use his own money for the race.

"We're fully funded in our budget right now and that decision will be made down the road."