Arkansas News, AR
04-17-07
Huckabee struggles for money in early states
By Aaron Sadler
Stephens Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential fundraising started slowly
even in the states where elections come the quickest.
Huckabee received no sizable contributions from donors in Iowa, where
Republican caucuses are less than nine months away, according to his
campaign finance report for the first quarter of this year.
Beyond that, the former Arkansas governor raised a combined $2,725 in New
Hampshire and South Carolina, sites of the two earliest 2008 primaries.
"I can't recall anybody certainly who's making a serious effort, and Huckabee is
making a serious effort here, who hasn't received contributions from the state,"
Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, said
Monday.
About half of Huckabee's $544,157 fundraising total came from Arkansans.
Analyses of Huckabee's fundraising were performed by PoliticalMoneyLine, a
campaign finance Web site.
Huckabee earlier this month attributed the meager first-quarter report to a late
start to his campaign.
He launched his presidential exploratory committee on Jan. 29. His first
campaign trip was to Iowa.
Candidates are required to list only individual donations of $200 or more, which
means any Iowa contributions of less than that would not appear itemized on his
report to the Federal Election Commission.
Huckabee spokeswoman Alice Stewart said Monday that he has received
contributions from supporters in all 50 states.
"We're comfortable with the contributions we've received in Iowa," Stewart sad.
"We're not concerned about the number of contributions or the amount because
he's very well received when he's there."
Huckabee has visited Iowa 10 times since 2005, including a campaign stop last
weekend. He has said that he will re-evaluate his presidential bid based on how
well he performs in that state's GOP straw poll in August.
Huckabee has not hosted fundraisers on any of his Iowa trips.
Iowa State University professor Steffen Schmidt said Huckabee needs to
improve his organization in the state, else get left behind in a crowded
Republican field.
"He's coming in a little late and he has got to make a lot more noise," said
Schmidt, who's been dubbed "Dr. Politics" in Iowa. "It's important to have in-state
money, even if you can get $1 contributions from 100,000 people."
Experts consider Huckabee a second-tier GOP presidential candidate, behind
former New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and
former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. All three men raised $10 million-plus in
the first quarter. Romney led the field with a $20 million haul.
Huckabee has been compared to Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., because each
have similar appeal to social conservatives.
Brownback raised $1.27 million in donations in the first quarter. About $3,900
came from Iowa.
"(Huckabee) probably still needs to convince Iowans he is a candidate that has
some prospect of moving into the top tier of candidates," Squire said.
The Arkansan drew $1,375 from New Hampshire and $1,350 from South
Carolina.
His top Arkansas contributions came from 200 donors, with more than 60 giving
the maximum $2,300 allowed for the primary.
Political action committees contributed $17,200 to Huckabee.
He received $5,000 each from the Stephens Inc. committee, TENN PAC, and the
Midnight Sun PAC.
Little Rock-based Stephens Inc. owns Stephens Media.
TENN PAC is affiliated with Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a former
presidential candidate; the Midnight Sun PAC belongs to Rep. Don Young, RAlaska, the congressional co-chairman of Huckabee's campaign.
Huckabee spent $170,239 in the first quarter, leaving him with $373,918 on hand
as of March 31.