Kerry Leading in Dollar Race

Sen. John F. Kerry amassed $10.9 million after six months of fund-raising to lead the nine Democrats who are chasing dollars to pay for their 2004 presidential campaigns.

One of his rivals, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, stumbled with a fund-raising total that fell about $1 million short of his goal.

President Bush, meanwhile, built up a cash hoard of $32.6 million, a towering show of financial muscle meant to intimidate the Democratic field.

Those were the highlights Tuesday as the Republican incumbent and his Democratic challengers filed new reports with the Federal Election Commission detailing their fund-raising in April, May and June and their overall financial performance for the first half of the year.

Among Democrats, Kerry boasted an edge in a crucial measure of strength: cash on hand. His total, as of June 30, topped what 2000 Democratic candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley had saved at a comparable point four years ago. With strong cash reserves, candidates can quickly order television, radio and print advertising and organize activists in key states when primaries and caucuses begin in January. In general, those who raise money early and save it for later are better positioned than those who spend heavily on early campaign expenses.

Several Democratic candidates were bunched together behind Kerry in the cash-on-hand totals reported Tuesday. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina ranked second behind the Massachusetts Democrat with $8.1 million on hand. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was third with $6.4 million, Missouri’s Gephardt fourth with $6.3 million and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut fifth with $4 million.

Further back, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida reported about $1.7 million on hand. That left Graham, a former two-term governor, dangerously close to Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, a longshot from Ohio with a much thinner resume. Kucinich had $1 million banked after a burst of Internet fund-raising. Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and New York activist Al Sharpton, the two other candidates, each reported less than $30,000 in the bank.

Fund-raising is a dominant factor in the year before the 2004 presidential election.

“The money race is always important at this point in the campaign,” said Anthony Corrado, a campaign finance expert at Colby College. “It’s the only real measure that insiders have to get a feel for how a candidate is doing.”

Another gauge of financial strength is momentum -- dollars raised in April, May and June. Many of the candidates had previously announced their quarterly totals two weeks ago.

As expected, Dean led the field in the second quarter with $7.6 million. Behind him were Kerry, with $5.8 million; Lieberman, $5.1 million; Edwards, $4.5 million; and Gephardt, $3.8 million.

Gephardt’s total was a disappointment on two levels: It was well short of the $5-million goal he had set for the quarter, and it was shy of a $4.5-million estimate that his campaign had disseminated when the quarter ended two weeks ago.

“We fell short of our goal,” Erik Smith, a Gephardt spokesman, acknowledged. “You’d always love to have more money. But we will certainly have sufficient funds to be competitive and win the nomination.”

Edwards’ fund-raising total came in a few hundred thousand dollars below the $4.8 million that his campaign had expected. But his spokeswoman, Jennifer Palmieri, said the North Carolina senator had compiled a “pretty remarkable” money record considering his relatively low national profile at the beginning of the year.

Initial analysis of the Democratic reports showed that California remained a top state for political donations. Dwight L. Morris, a nonpartisan campaign finance analyst based in Virginia, calculated that Dean, for example, received at least $1 million from Californians. Lieberman pulled in at least $900,000 from the state and Kucinich more than $285,000.

State summaries for other candidates were not immediately available.

As he did four years ago, Bush emerged as an early fund-raising colossus.

His reelection campaign announced that it would disclose the names of 105,000 donors, including more than 85,000 individuals who gave less than $200 each. Disclosure of such small-scale donors is not required by law.

“These figures reflect the strong, grass-roots support the president enjoys across America,” said Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman.

But more than 70% of Bush’s money came from people who gave the maximum donation of $2,000.

In addition to the president’s FEC report, Bush campaign officials released on their Web site the names of 18 financiers they named “Rangers” -- those who collected at least $200,000 for the president -- and more than 50 “Pioneers” -- those who collected at least $100,000.

Three Californians were designated Rangers: interior decorator Katherine E. Boyd; investment banker Bradford M. Freeman, and businessman Gregory W. Slayton.

The Pioneers from California were building industry leader Carole L. Bionda; grocery store executive Steve Burd; television executive Jerry Perenchio; businessman Alex G. Spanos; investment banker Ronald Spogli; attorney Shawn Steel and his wife, Michelle; educator John B. Tsu, and auto dealer Bob Tuttle.

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Times staff writers Susannah Rosenblatt and Justin Gest and researcher Mark Madden contributed to this report.

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Candidate money

Fund-raising figures for President Bush and the nine Democrats seeking to challenge him in next year’s election.

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Candidate Total 2nd-quarter Year to date Cash on hand donations George W. Bush $34.4 million $34.4 million $32.6 million John F. Kerry 5.8 mil 13.3 mil 10.9 mil John Edwards 4.5 mil 11.9 mil 8.1 mil Richard A. Gephardt 3.8 mil 7.4 mil 6.3 mil Joe Lieberman 5.1 mil 8.1 mil 4 mil Howard Dean 7.6 mil 10.5 mil 6.4 mil Bob Graham 2 mil 3.1 mil 1.7 mil Dennis J. Kucinich 1.5 mil 1.7 mil 1.1 mil Al Sharpton 55,000 137,000 12,000 Carol Moseley Braun 145,000 217,000 22,000

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Source: Federal Election Commission and campaigns

Los Angeles Times