Republican gubernatorial candidates Tom Foley, left, andJohn McKinney shake hand at the conclusion of a debate held at the Hartford Courant building Thursday, July 17, 2014, for the two Republicans running for governor in Connecticut. Foley, is a businessman from Greenwich and former U.S. ambassador to Ireland. McKinney, of Fairfield, is the Senate minority leader in Connecticut. (AP Photo/Hartford Courant, Brad Horrigan, Pool)
It’s raining money in the Republican primary race for governor, with Connecticut taxpayers providing the clouds.
Both Tom Foley and John McKinney eclipsed the $1 million spending mark as of July 31, with most of their campaign expenditures coming during the past month and subsidized by the Citizens’ Election Fund, according to new filings with the state.
Since McKinney and running mate Dave Walker qualified for the so-called clean elections program on July 16, the tandem has shelled out $908,605 to try to close a 30-point gap between McKinney and the GOP’s endorsed candidate, Foley.
Most of that money has gone into television advertising, with McKinney and Walker paying $282,782 to Princeton, N.J., based, media consultant Jamestown Associates for television advertising during the past week alone.
During the past week, Foley, who does not have a running mate, paid $245,030 for television advertising to Pinpoint Media of Alexandria, Va., and Chatham Light Media of Stowe, Vt.
Both candidates additionally dropped five figures on internal polling.
Foley’s campaign paid $30,642 to the Tarrance Group of Alexandria, Va., and $3,600 to Strategy Group Co. of Delaware, Ohio, for polling during the past week.
During the same period, McKinney’s campaign paid $11,000 to Moore Information of Portland, Ore., for polling.
McKinney paid a political consultant $1,648 for what his campaign itemized as “security” during the week ending July 29, according to his filing with the state Elections Enforcement Commission.
McKinney and Foley each received grants of $1.4 million from the Citizens’ Election Fund, with Foley’s application approved July 2 and McKinney’s approved July 16.
Major party candidates for governor must raise $250,000 in $100 increments to qualify for the program, which allows running mates to pool contributions to reach the threshold.
Unable to qualify on his own, McKinney formed a joint fundraising committee with Walker. They are sharing funds.
Foley had the $1.4 million all to himself.
Filings show that McKinney and Walker have $471,316 still in the bank for the final push to the Aug. 12 primary, compared to $398,628 for Foley.