3 Candidates' Spending Tops Funds Raised in Quarter

Three prominent contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination - Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and John Edwards (N.C.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) - spent more than they raised during the last quarter, depleting crucial resources as the Jan. 19 Iowa caucus and the Jan. 27 New Hampshire primary fast approach.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) barely stayed out of the red for the quarter, raising $3.63 million and spending $3.59 million.

The third-quarter struggles of the four candidates, all members of Congress, sharply contrasted with the performance of former Vermont governor Howard Dean and retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who are campaigning for their party's nomination as outsiders. Both raised substantially more than they spent in the three-month period ending Sept. 30.

Dean set a record for Democratic presidential fundraising in a quarter, collecting $14.8 million and spending $8.8 million. Combined with money raised earlier this year, Dean had a cash balance of $12.4 million on Sept. 30, up from $6.4 million at the end of June, according to aides.

Clark, who entered the race in the closing two weeks of the quarter, raised $3.5 million, spent just over $100,000, for a balance of $3.4 million, according to a report his campaign filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission. Early last night, he was the only one of the leading candidates to have filed a complete quarterly report. The other major campaigns all supplied general information to reporters, saying they would meet the midnight deadline.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32287-2003Oct15.html

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