…is cash on hand.
Yeah, yeah, Markell raised over $700,000 more than Carney. But since Carney is having his expenses picked up by the Delaware Democratic Party (as Jason reported yesterday, the Del Dems have outspent Carney on Carney ads by nearly a margin of 2 to 1), I speculated earlier that that meant either Carney was not raising enough money and was basically broke, or it meant that he was just sitting on whatever money he did raise, letting the Del Dem’s ad buy keep him in the game against Markell’s until the last few weeks of the campaign.
It looks to me that the latter scenario is correct.
Markell continues to lead the pack statewide with record-setting totals, including $1.1 million given to his campaign by 3,041 donors since the start of 2008. In his report Tuesday, Markell said he had spent $1.5 million so far this year, and has $2.1 million on hand for the four-week sprint to the Sept. 9 primary.
Carney reported spending $887,900, with $530,000 on hand.
So Carney has $530,000 in cash on hand for the last few weeks of the campaign. Ordinarily he would be in good shape, and the plan to have the Del Dems pay for his ads in late July and early August would have looked to be a good idea. But Carney is facing a fundraising machine in Markell. Markell has $2.1 million in cash on hand for the final few weeks. Now, I have heard that a union would be transferring a total of $500,000 to Carney. I have no idea if this donation has taken place. If it hasn’t, then Carney would then be at a 2 to 1 deficit in COH rather than a 4 to 1 deficit.
Also, the Carney campaign complaint that Jack Markell is trying to buy the election? That won’t fly in Delaware where we have elected wealthy candidates time and again. Remember Pete du Pont anyone?