Posted: March 5, 2008

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL POLITICS

Got money? No one gets elected without it. Here is a summary of the state of the financial state of the statewide candidates at the start of the election year.

Office Candidate Party Treasury What counts
Senate Joe Biden D $1.5 mil Biden's gamble for president never meant risking his nest egg for re-election
    R 0 Zero is an ugly number for any Republican to start with
House Mike Castle R $1.5 mil Castle salted away contributions in case he drew a top-tier challenger, but the Democrats have more candidates than dollars
  Chris Bullock D 0 The Wilmington minister's candidacy and fund raising are just beginning
  Karen Hartley-Nagle D 0 The "fusion" candidate campaigned on a shoestring in '06, when she lost the primary but kept going on the Indie ticket, and she looks cash-strapped once more
  Dennis Spivack D ($129,087) Spivack is carrying debt from his '06 candidacy and also carrying doubts about running again
Gov John Carney D $1 mil Carney has the ante for his share of what is shaping up as the most high-powered primary in state history
  Jack Markell D $2.5 mil Markell's money turned heads, even with a $725,000 loan to himself included in the total
  Bill Lee R 0 Lee thought he was finished after his '04 race and closed out his account, but if the party will raise him $1 or $2 mil, he could substitute for dropout Alan Levin
Lt gov Matt Denn D $376,192 Denn has set a record by banking more than anyone for lieutenant governor at the start of an election year
  Ted Blunt D $70,889 The silver lining for Blunt is that most of his contributions came from small-dollar contributors who can give again
    R 0 No guv, no lite guv, no stash 
Ins com Gene Reed Jr. D $85,188 Running statewide takes earnest money, and so far Reed is the only Democrat acting like an earnest candidate
  Karen Weldin Stewart D ($16,512) Stewart goes into the race the same way she ended the primary she lost in '04 -- in debt
  Tom Savage D ($14,056) A legislative race in '04 put Savage in a hole and left him there
  John Brady R $6.97 Brady's treasury looks like it was scrounged from the back of couch cushions, but he insists he already raised thousands after the reports were due

Source: Federal and state finance reports ending Dec. 31, 2007. Incumbents in bold.

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