Barth raises $330K in 1st quarter – WV-02

Cross posted from West Virginia Blue

From an email:

Wow, what a great start for our campaign for Congress!

As you know, a top-notch Congressional campaign is an all-consuming undertaking for any candidate who is in it to win it. I promise you I have been working as hard as I have ever worked in my life to earn the support I’ve been getting from people like you. Together, we will give West Virginians in the 2nd Congressional District a stronger advocate in Washington. I’ve made visits to nearly all the counties in the broad 2nd District – many of them more than once – and I can tell you that there is a palpable excitement and energy for change. I’ve been meeting and talking with people in fire halls, community centers, senior centers, churches and private homes.

Over and over West Virginians tell me they have become disillusioned by years of Bush-Cheney policies that simply don’t reflect the needs of rural America in general, and working West Virginians in particular. It is your views, your ideas, your concerns – and your support – that continue to energize me and drive my campaign forward.

I wanted to take a moment to update you on the progress of our campaign to restore West Virginia values to the 2nd Congressional seat in Congress. The all-important FEC first quarter reporting period ended on March 31. Our filing will show that the campaign has collected just over $330,000 in contributions from people like you.

The first quarter reporting number is a critical barometer of a campaign’s vitality. We are setting very high expectations for our campaign, and so far we are meeting and exceeding them. We had six fundraising events around the state in the first quarter, including one that was hosted jointly by Senator Byrd, Senator Rockefeller, Congressman Rahall and Congressman Mollohan. I am so proud to have their support, which has provided such a boost to the campaign and to peoples’ confidence that Democrats are working hard to regain the seat. People from across the entire state have been mailing contributions to our campaign headquarters and donating with their credit cards on our website.

In addition to the support of the entire West Virginia Democratic delegation, the Anne Barth for Congress campaign has also received endorsements from a variety of organizations, including the West Virginia AFL-CIO, United Mine Workers, United Auto Workers, Communications Workers of America, the Southwestern District Labor Council, United Steelworkers, Teamsters, the West Virginia Education Association, the West Virginia Sheriff’s Association and the American Federation of Government Employees.

These organizations are a vital part of our communities, and I am honored to have them as friends and supporters. We expect more endorsements from organizations to be made public soon – and we’ll keep you posted.

Through all of this busy campaigning I have received a lot of good press, in small town weeklies, larger daily newspapers, and regional television stations. I have also appeared on radio stations across the district to get my message out, and continue to enjoy building relationships with members of our state media that the voters rely on in their communities to keep themselves informed and up-to-date on the issues.I was especially gratified to receive the endorsement this week of the state’s largest daily newspaper, the Charleston Gazette.

I have also participated in several Meet the Candidate events around the district, as well as forums and debates, with my primary opponents at West Virginia Wesleyan in Buckhannon and the Young Democrats Convention in Charleston. I enjoy these exchanges and look forward to debates with them at the Jefferson County League of Women Voters event on April 17 and the Berkeley County Democratic Association event on April 21.

Though I have many years of experience in the political realm, being a candidate is a new experience for me. I continue to learn more as I travel and meet with constituents. While serving in Sen. Byrd’s office for 21 years, I never lived in Washington, I always continued to live and work in the 2nd Congressional District, and that is one reason I am running – I understand the needs and concerns of the people of my home district. And I have learned from my experiences on Sen. Byrd’s staff how to get results for the people of West Virginia in Washington.

With your continued support and involvement, we can win in May – and again in November. Please stay in touch with our campaign, visit our website for updates at AnneBarthforCongress.com, volunteer when you can and make a contribution if you are able.

Change is coming for the people of West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, and together we are driving that momentum for change.

Thank you for your support and encouragement – and please keep in touch.

Barth is off to a tremendous start, especially considering she got into the quarter late. That’s got to be making Bush Republican Shelley Moore Capito nervous.

Jake Stump has the story in the Daily Mail:

Her campaign finances outpace those of her primary opponents. One of them, former South Charleston mayor Richie Robb, raised $2,475 from January to April, and has $10,835 cash on-hand, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission.

A financial report for a third candidate, Thornton Cooper, was not available.

Political observers expected Barth, who entered the race after state Sen. John Unger dropped out right before the filing deadline, to have a tough time raising money because of her late start.

Incumbent Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., had $643,865 cash on-hand as of Jan. 1.

snip

“We have very high expectations for ourselves as a campaign, and we are meeting those marks,” said Ned Rose, chairman of the Barth campaign. “Our fellow West Virginians are also expressing their high expectations for Anne by contributing so generously. I can assure them all one thing — nobody will outwork Anne Barth. She is a tireless campaigner and a dynamic individual.”

The interesting thing will be whether campaign donors who’ve backed Capito in the past will continue to give, or if they’ll see she’s a lost cause. My guess is she’ll receive some contributions, but keep in mind she angered many of her fellow Republicans in 2006 by not contributing to other races. In fact, she was still holding fundraisers the weekend before the last election, a sure sign she was worried about Mike Callaghan. She ended up buying herself a landslide because Callaghan, among other flaws with his campaign, had run out of money and was unable to answer a last minute barrage of misleading attack ads from Capito. In addition to having a very focused campaign style, Barth is going to have enough money to go toe-to-toe against Capito at the end.