Democratic congressional candidate Brad Ashford slightly widened his fundraising lead over primary opponent Kara Eastman during the first quarter of this year.
Ashford has raised about $535,000 during this election cycle, and he had $285,000 in the bank as of March 31.
“Momentum continues to build for Brad Ashford,” consultant Ian Russell said. “People are excited for him to get back to work on issues important to Nebraskans.”
That’s compared with $320,000 raised by Eastman, with nearly $75,000 in the bank.
“We have all the resources we need to continue to be competitive in this primary,” spokeswoman Heather Aliano said. “We’re committed to making sure that politics returns to being about people and not about money, and we’re doing that by running a strong grass-roots campaign.”
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Both trail Republican incumbent Don Bacon, who has raised $1.5 million and has about $775,000 on hand.
In the last quarter, Ashford and Eastman combined raised $339,113 — only about $500 more than Bacon’s $338,626 haul.
Ashford has garnered support from some Omaha business leaders, including Burlington Capital chairman emeritus Mike Yanney. And he received donations from several former congressional colleagues, including Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Notable donors to Eastman include Omaha City Council President Ben Gray, who had previously endorsed her, and County Clerk Dan Esch. Her campaign said she has received donations from 2,385 people.
Bacon drew support from Robert Mercer, an investor in Cambridge Analytica, a company that has been under fire for improperly acquiring the private Facebook data of millions of users. Bacon also received money from the Koch Industries PAC and Great America Committee, which is Vice President Mike Pence’s group.
