Adam Cote is leading Betsy Sweet and Janet Mills in the campaign fundraising race among Democrats running for governor in the June primary election, according to reports filed Tuesday with the state.
Meanwhile, Shawn Moody and Maine Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, a clean election candidate, appear to be the top fundraisers among the Republican running for governor.
Candidates for governor had until midnight Tuesday to file their campaign fundraising reports with the Maine Ethics Commission.
The finance reports can be telling in terms of which candidate is getting the most financial support before the June 12 primary.
There are 16 candidates running for governor including eight Democrats, four Republicans and four Independents. The independents won’t be on the ballot for the June 12 primaries.
Cote, of Springvale, raised more than $278,000 between Jan. 1 and April 24 – the most recent campaign finance reporting period – giving him a total of more than $804,000 for his June primary campaign.
The average contribution to Cote’s campaign was $288. The Sanford attorney has 20 years of experience in the military, having served as an Army National Guard combat veteran in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The support and momentum we continue to see from Mainers for this campaign is humbling,” Cote said in a statement.
Sweet, a Democrat and clean election candidate, has now raised more than $647,000 according to the Ethics Commission website. That figure includes $150,000 that was approved Tuesday by the Ethics Commission. Sweet’s campaign collected over 4,000 contributions of $5 from Maine voters.
“Betsy Sweet is the only Democratic candidate for governor who is running a Clean Elections campaign and is not accepting corporate and lobbyist money,” Stephanie Clifford, her campaign manager, said in a statement.
Mills, Maine’s attorney general, raised more than $221,000 during the recent reporting period, bringing her total raised for the primary election to more than $571,000.
“We’re proud that more than 40 percent of our contributions came from the 2nd Congressional District, far more than any other candidate,” Mills’ campaign spokesman, Michael Ambler, said in a statement. The average contribution to Mills’ campaign was $97.
Democrat Mark Eves of North Berwick, the former speaker of the Maine House, received $145,000 in contributions between January and April, pushing his campaign fundraising total to more than $305,000.
Moody’s campaign reported that he was able to raise more than $289,000 during the last four months, giving him more than $575,000.
Mason, of Lisbon Falls, reported $400,000 in Maine Clean Election Act payments, and another $36,000 in seed money. Mason said he also qualified Tuesday to receive an additional $150,000 in state clean election funds, bringing his campaign finance total to more than $586,000.
House Minority Leader Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, raised just over $6,000 during the past four months, bringing his total raised to more than $20,000.
Mary Mayhew, former commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, told the state she raised more than $102,000 during the recent fundraising period, giving her a total of just over $300,000.
Alan Caron of Freeport, an independent, has raised more than $45,000 thus far, including more than $15,000 since January. He also received $200,000 in loans for the reporting period, bringing his loan total to $450,000 for the general election.
Adam Cote
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