July 05, 2006 08:00 AM UTC

State Treasurer Money Report

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• by: Colorado Pols

The latest financial reports for the State Treasurer race are in, and they pose an interesting question for Republican Mark Hillman, who?has already?burned?through a lot of money. Hillman has raised about $247,000 since he first announced his candidacy last summer (including about $65,000 in Q2), but he only has $145,000 cash on hand. Ordinarily that might not be a big deal, but Hillman has accepted the voluntary spending limit cap of $500,000, which means that he’s really going to have to tighten his wallet to save enough money for TV air time in the fall.

Democrat Cary Kennedy, meanwhile, has raised a total of about $195,000 since announcing her candidacy in January (including about $88,000 in Q2), and has about $165,000 cash on hand.

Unless Hillman is counting on outside money in the form of 527 committees or something similar, Kennedy is on pace to?be able to afford?a much larger TV buy in a few months. In a race that’s likely to come down to little more than name ID at the polls, that could be a huge advantage for Kennedy.