The deadline for qualifying for public funds is fast approaching and at least one gubernatorial candidate is still waiting for his funds.
Republican Sen. John McKinney and running mate David Walker said Friday that about $4,600 of their more than $250,000 was called into question by election regulators. In order for a donation to qualify the donor has to disclose their name, home address, and employer.
However, the duo still believe they will qualify for the $1.35 million grant by July 10.
“This morning we received a report that the SEEC review of our application for grant funding will only require follow-up on about $4,600 in contributions in order to qualify for the state grant. The required paperwork will be submitted expeditiously,” the campaign said.
The amount the McKinney campaign had to raise over the weekend was far less than the amount his Republican opponent had to raise in order to qualify after his audit.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission twice declined to approve Tom Foley’s application when only about $220,970 of the $264,000 he had raised met the standards necessary to qualify.
Foley, who largely self-funded his 2010 race for governor, submitted his application for the grant in June but found that some of the donors had given to the campaign twice. An individual is allowed to contribute no more than $100 to any publicly financed candidate. He eventually qualified for the funding on July 2.
McKinney faces Foley in the Aug. 12 primary and even though he’s pooled his fundraising with Walker, the lieutenant governor candidate will run separately in the primary.
Walker faces state Rep. Penny Bacchiochi and Heather Somers, who both qualified for $406,275 primary grant.
“We are pleased to be done with fundraising and look forward to the upcoming campaign,” the McKinney-Walker campaign, said. “We have a real plan to fix Connecticut that will bring major change to Hartford and reverse the disastrous policies of Dan Malloy.”
Meanwhile, Foley started reserving television ad time the day before receiving his public grant.
According to public filings, Foley reserved a number of 30-second TV spots that will begin airing today for $50,000.
Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman already qualified for their $6.5 million grant for the general election.
