Republican Garret Graves is currently burying his fellow candidates in the money war for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional seat, having amassed more than $320,000 in net contributions as of March 31, according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission. Of that allotment, Graves has $312,000 in on-hand spending money, becoming the new financial frontrunner for the hotly contested seat.
Trailing behind Graves is Republican businessman Paul Dietzel, whose campaign was noted for its fundraising prowess early in the race. Though Dietzel received $300,000 as of March 31, he currently has only $70,000 of those donations on-hand.
Sen. Dan Claitor of Baton Rouge, another Republican frontrunner, reported $158,000 in net contributions, with $134,000 on-hand.
Candidates Norman Clark and Richard Lieberman reported no financial activity, while former Gov. Edwin Edwards, despite having announced his candidacy on St. Patty’s Day, reported $33,000 in net contributions and $27,000 on-hand as of March 31.
On-hand money refers to campaign contributions that are already in the bank and ready to spend, according to political communications professor Robert Mann.
“Cash on hand is really the important thing,” Mann said.
Mann said candidates like Dietzel should be wary of their “burn rate,” a judgment of how well a candidate handles his or her expenditures. Mann said the burn rate refers to how much the campaign takes in versus how much it spends.
Graves said the money raised itself after talking to several voters across the state.
“Over and over and over again, the same thing was said, ‘There was a void in this race.’ There were not any candidates in this race that people really felt fit the bill for what this district needs.”
Graves also claimed his campaign, unlike others in the race, had no professional fundraising operation.
“I think it adds perhaps an exclamation point to the results,” Graves said. “You haven’t seen us go out and spend a bunch of money on messaging. We’ve been taking all this time to sit down with people and say ‘What’s important to you?’”
Despite Graves’ financial dominance, Mann warned that campaign contributions were not the only thing that determines the outcome of a race.
“It doesn’t tell you everything. It might tell you who’s best positioned to get that message out, but it doesn’t tell you the quality of that message,” Mann said. “It’s going to take a million dollars to win this race.”