Bee nearly matches Giffords in first-quarter fundraising By Daniel Scarpinato

arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 04.16.2008

Congressional opponents Tim Bee and Gabrielle Giffords essentially tied each other in the amount of money they raised during the first three months of 2008, with both collecting nearly half a million dollars.
Bee, the Republican president of the state Senate, raised $466,092 for his race against Giffords in Congressional District 8, according to reports made public Tuesday by the Federal Election Commission.

Giffords, a first-term Democrat, brought in slightly more — $466,786 — for her re-election bid.

In what will be a nationally watched race, Giffords still has significantly more in the bank, nearly $1.7 million, compared with Bee's $525,000. But the new numbers indicate that Bee was able to stay competitive with Giffords in his first fundraising quarter as a declared candidate.

"This is evidence that this is a very
viable campaign and the voters support Tim Bee's candidacy," said Tom Dunn,
Bee's campaign spokesman.

So while Giffords has the lead, the new numbers close the gap. Giffords started the new year with more than eight times as much money as Bee, raising more than $1.4 million in 2007.
"He did a good job," Michael McNulty, Giffords' campaign chairman, said of Bee's fund- raising.
But he added: "He's going to need it. The fact is, outside of his legislative district, I don't think many average voters know who he is."

McNulty said the Giffords campaign isn't being overconfident.

"If we thought (Bee) posed no threat, we would not have been working so hard to get (Giffords) in the position she's in."

The Bee campaign hasn't ignored the fact Giffords has out-raised it significantly, and has instead sought to define her as the "Washington" candidate.

In a press release about his fundraising numbers, Bee doesn't mention Giffords but says, "This campaign is about the people, not the Washington power brokers."

Thirty-three percent of Giffords' money is from political action committees, compared with Bee's 9 percent from those organized interest groups. But McNulty stressed that the money raised this year came from 1,600 individuals, and 77 percent of the contributions are $200 or less, he said.

The Bee campaign said that "1,162 individual donors gave nine out of every 10 dollars raised to date."

Both candidates capped the first quarter with fundraising events aimed at boosting their numbers. In late March, Bee held Tucson and Phoenix fundraisers with Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. Giffords organized a Phoenix event with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

With nearly $760,000 raised so far in his first race for Congress, Bee has actually brought in more than Giffords had at this point in her first bid in 2006, when she ran in the crowded primary. He's also raised well more than any other Republican had at this point during 2006.
But as the only GOP candidate and with the seat not open this time around, the layout is different.

Giffords began raising re-election funds almost immediately after winning the seat in November 2006. By the time Bee had announced in August that he would explore a run, Giffords had already raked in more than $1 million. Her goal is to raise $3 million by the end of the campaign.

In 2006, she raised $2.5 million.

Besides having less than a third the money Giffords has on hand, Bee faces other challenges in the money department. National Democrats have $38 million to spend on House campaigns, while Republicans only have $5 million. The GOP has maintained that it will have the funds necessary to compete.

McNulty said initially that the campaign thought national Democrats might use their money elsewhere, but is expecting national help.

Dunn downplayed the impact of the parties, saying, the Dem-ocrats "can try to buy the election, but we will work as hard as we have to win."

Bee has a fundraiser scheduled this Friday in Tucson with publisher Steve Forbes.