GOP pulls out fund-raising stops in contested campaigns

Republican candidates in hotly contested races pulled out the fund-raising stops during the campaign reporting period that ended last week.

The second of three reports on campaign contributions and expenses was due at county clerks' offices and the secretary of state's office Tuesday.

While many of the reports due are still in the mail, attorney general candidate Brian Sandoval reported raising another $353,820, bringing his total contributions to $1,331,470. That includes a substantial number of contributions from other Republicans who don't have strong challengers, including Capital District Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, as well as several contributions from county and state GOP groups.

Sandoval, who is facing a tough challenge from Las Vegas Democratic attorney John Hunt, has spent all but $53,767 of that total.

Hunt's report was expected to be filed in Las Vegas and was unavailable Tuesday.

State Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, added $76,100 to his contribution total, now at $201,850. He has spent all but $5,145 of that total in his battle against Democrat and political newcomer Joe Carter for the seat which includes Sparks, eastern and part of northern Washoe County and pieces of Lyon and Storey counties.

Carter's report had not arrived by Tuesday evening.

While the deadline for the report was Tuesday, those put them into certified mail by 5 p.m. will not be considered late. Elections officials say reports continue to arrive for several days following the deadline.

Gov. Kenny Guinn, who is reported leading his opponents including Democrat Joe Neal by a large margin, has collected a total of more than $3 million. But he practically stopped collecting contributions after the first reports were filed Aug. 27.

His expenses, however, have continued to mount. He spent $1.3 million during the first reporting period and another $958,336 this period for $2.25 million total. He has about $1 million left.

Another $171,590 was spent on Guinn's campaign management team headed by Pete Ernaut, bringing Ernaut's total take from the effort to nearly $481,000.