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Hirono has big fundraising lead over Case for Senate

Former congressman Ed Case raised significantly less than U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono over the past three months in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, according to a copy of his campaign finance report.

Case raised about $147,900 from April through June, according to his report, and had about $206,400 in cash on hand. He has raised about $220,400 in total for his campaign.

Hirono, by comparison, raised more than $281,000 in the last quarter and had about $545,000 in cash on hand, including money transferred from her congressional campaign.

Case told reporters last week that he had raised about $240,000 for his campaign, but acknowledged that his quarterly figure may be “somewhat different” when his campaign finance report was filed. He did not, however, suggest that the difference would be substantial.

“Among the lessons I take from this is that I should not comment on a fundraising report until the report is completed and public,” Case said in an email Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who is also considering a Senate campaign, raised $228,000 during the last quarter, so Case had the worst fundraising performance among the three Democratic contenders.

Case and Hirono had stressed the importance of early fundraising to donors since campaign finance reports are scrutinized by the news media and political analysts for signs of campaign strength.

“Especially since he’s already attacking Mazie Hirono out on the campaign trail, it seems like Ed Case should really focus on getting his own story straight first,” said Jadine Nielsen, the Hirono campaign’s finance director. “It’s never a good idea to mislead the people of Hawaii, even if it’s frustrating to Mr. Case that so many people are joining our grassroots campaign because they agree with Mazie’s progressive agenda of protecting Medicare and Social Security, creating jobs, and strengthening Hawaii’s public schools.”

 

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