Delaware politics: GOP hopefuls report stellar donations

By BETH MILLER and GINGER GIBSON
The News Journal

The two Delaware Republicans favored to sit at the top of the ballot in November have reported solid fundraising results as their campaigns gear up for races that could help determine which party controls Congress next year.

Michele Rollins, the Republican Party's endorsed candidate for Delaware's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, will report donations of more than $585,000 when she files her first campaign finance report with the Federal Election Commission today.

U.S. Rep. Mike Castle will report $837,000 in fundraising for his U.S. Senate bid when he files his second-quarter report this week.

All candidates for federal office must file financial reports to the FEC by today, accounting for money raised and spent from April 1 through June 30.

More than 500 donors -- most from Delaware -- contributed to Rollins' campaign, her campaign manager Matthew Hunter said Wednesday.

The widow of multimillionaire businessman John W. Rollins Sr., who died in 2000, has been active for decades in raising money for charities throughout the state and has helped many Republican candidates raise support for their campaigns.

Now, though, she hopes to demonstrate that support for her candidacy is strong and widespread. Her report will show that she has given only $4,800 of her own money to the campaign, Hunter said.

That is a marked contrast to one of her GOP challengers, Glen Urquhart of Rehoboth Beach, who finished second to Rollins in balloting at the GOP's convention in May. Urquhart's first-quarter campaign finance report showed that he loaned the campaign $565,000 of his own money. He had about $512,000 on hand.

Former Lt. Gov. John C. Carney Jr., the lone Democratic candidate, reported almost $1 million in donations in his first-quarter filing, with about $675,000 on hand.

Other U.S. House candidates expected to file today include Libertarian Brent Wangen of Millsboro and Republican Rose Izzo of Brandywine Hundred.

Castle, who raised $826,000 between January and March, entered the second quarter with $2.3 million in cash. The newest report covers donations collected between April and June. His largest collections came at the end of 2009, when he raised $1.3 million in one quarter.

According to his campaign, Castle collected $263,000 from political action committees and $532,000 from individual donors.

Fundraising totals have not been made available by either of Castle's opponents.

Democrat Chris Coons reported $650,889 in contributions in the first quarter, after entering the race a month into the fundraising period.

Castle's primary opponent, Christine O'Donnell, has raised $55,358 since entering the race, but reported only $19,899 in cash at the end of the second quarter, with $23,776 listed as debts owed.

Historically, Delaware Senate candidates have needed about $5 million to run a competitive race. Tom Carper spent $4.6 million when he ousted longtime incumbent Sen. Bill Roth in 2000.