Senate race fundraising breaks state records

The state Senate campaigns for Susan Collins and Tom Allen filed federal fundraising reports Tuesday that showed Collins outpacing her rival in the amount of money raised since Jan. 1.

Collins, a Republican incumbent, raised $963,261 since the start of the year, while Allen, a Democratic congressman who is challenging Collins for her seat, raised “more than $700,000” in the same time period, according to a release from his campaign.

These quarterly figures bring the total raised by both candidates to more than $9 million, an all-time record for campaign fundraising in Maine. The previous record was $8 million in 2002 when North Haven resident Chellie Pingree, who now is running in a crowded Democratic primary race for Allen’s seat, unsuccessfully challenged Collins.

Allen’s campaign indicated it has raised a total of $3.7 million, nearly $2.7 million of which is cash on hand. Collins has raised a total of more than $5.5 million and has more than $4.5 million as cash on hand, according to her campaign.

Aside from the fundraising efforts, there also has been continued political attention this week on supposed weaknesses exhibited by each candidate.

The Maine Fair Trade Campaign is targeting Collins for what it says is her lack of a stated position on the proposed Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Allen, 2nd District Rep. Michael Michaud and Sen. Olympia Snowe all oppose the agreement, the group indicated last week in a prepared release, making Collins the only member of Maine’s congressional delegation not to take a stand on the proposal.

“This deal is so horrendous that Collins’ lack of a position is tantamount to an endorsement of it,” Don Berry, vice president of the Maine AFL-CIO, said in the release. “If she really cares about human rights, if she cares about Maine’s working families, if she cares about our economy, Collins will join the bipartisan opposition in the agreement.”

Jen Burita, spokeswoman for Collins’ office, released a comment Tuesday that defended the senator’s ongoing deliberations on the issue.

“In deciding how to vote on any free trade agreement, Senator Collins carefully assesses the impact of the agreement on those employed in Maine’s manufacturing industries, agricultural sectors and small businesses,” Burita said. “She also is reviewing the agreement’s environmental, labor and human rights protections. This careful reasoning has led her to vote in favor of some [free trade] agreements, such as the Peruvian FTA, and against others, such as CAFTA.”

The Maine Republican Party, meanwhile, released figures Tuesday on the Senate race highlighting the fundraising amounts and listing several recent poll figures that show Collins leading Allen by between 16 and 23 percentage points. In the polls, support for Collins ranged from 54 to 57 percent while support for Allen hovered between 31 and 38 percent.

Carol Andrews, spokeswoman for the Allen campaign, said Tuesday that the issue is not who raises the most money but whether Allen can raise enough to beat Collins.

“We’ve always known we would raise enough money to be successful in November,” Andrews said.

As for the poll figures, Andrews said they simply show that voters think Collins is a nice person. They are not necessarily a sign of support for Collins’ political positions on the Iraq war, on the economy, or on middle class protections, she said.

“This race isn’t about nice people,” Andrews said. “It is about the big issues.”

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

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