Campaign Out of Debt, Kemp Declares : Now $150,000 in the Black, Reports Due Next Week Will Show

Rep. Jack Kemp said today that his Republican presidential campaign has pulled itself out of debt and should show its financial health in statements to be filed next week.

The campaign was running about $200,000 in the red two months ago but is now $150,000 in the black, thanks to intensive fund-raising efforts that included a $12,000-a-couple dinner, a spokesman said.

Kemp released preliminary financial information on his campaign at a news conference today in Manchester.

“On July 15, we will show that the campaign is in very healthy shape financially, competitive with any other campaign in either party,” the New York congressman said.

All declared presidential candidates must file financial statements with the Federal Election Commission on July 15, but Kemp provided his figures early because “we’ve had dozens of press inquiries ever since June 30,” when the reporting period closed, said Charles Black, chief political consultant to the Jack Kemp for President Committee.

Black called today’s figures “very close approximations of what the numbers will be in our FEC report.”

Between Dec. 1, 1986, and June 30, 1987, the Kemp committee raised $3.3 million, he said. It has about $600,000 cash on hand, but owes about $450,000, he said.

“So our net cash position is about $150,000 in the black,” Black said.

The campaign has also repaid a $50,000 bank loan it took out in May to pay direct-mail costs, he noted. At that time, the campaign was reportedly $200,000 in the red.

The committee is hoping to collect $1.8 million in federal matching funds next Jan. 1.

The $3.3 million raised so far came from 50,000 individual contributors making an average contribution of $65, according to Black. After years of courting a few millionaires for big contributions, Kemp recently has changed his fund-raising strategy to target many smaller contributors.