Saturday, July 22, 2000
McConnell campaign fund surpasses $1 million
By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT MITCHELL — Kentucky U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell has not yet drawn an opponent for his 2002 reelection campaign but the Louisville Republican has already built a campaign fund of more than $1 million.
Even for Mr. McConnell, recognized around the nation as a prodigious fund-raiser, the amount sets a new personal standard when it comes to campaign money.
Mr. McConnell's campaign reported $1,022,923 in cash-on-hand in a Federal Election Commission report filed last week. The amount is larger at this point than during any of his previous three Senate campaigns.
“I am honored by all the support I have received as I prepare to run for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate,” Mr. McConnell said in a
statement relesed by his Louisville campaign office.
To date, Mr. McConnell's 2002 campaign has received $1,066,500 in campaign contributions. Of that amount, 83 percent has come from individuals and 11 percent has come from political action committees. Kentuckians accounted for two-thirds of the individual contributions, according to Scott Douglas, Mr. McConnell's top political aide.
A lawyer and former Jefferson County judge-executive, Mr. McConnell is the only Republican in Kentucky ever elected to three full terms in the Senate.
He defeated then-incumbent Walter “Dee” Huddleston in 1984, former Louisville Mayor Harvey Sloane in 1990 and former lieutenant governor Steve Beshear in 1996.
Among the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati residents who have contributed money to Mr. McConnell are:
Dr. Charles Allnut of Villa Hills, $1,000.
ãRobert Castellini, president of the Castellini Co. in Wilder, $1,000.
ãAshland CEO Paul Chellgren of Crescent Springs, $2,000.
ãBrian Collins of Fort Mitch ell, president of Commonwealth Inc., $1,000.
ãIndependence lawyer Eric Deters, $250.
ãBuilder Ralph Drees of Crescent Springs, $1,000.
ãHomebuilder Henry Fischer, $1,000.
ãLawyer Larry Grause, $500.
ãBarb Haas, chairwoman of the Campbell County Republican Party, $1,000.
ãDeveloper Paul Hemmer Jr., $1,000.
ãDr. Stephen Hiltz of Edgewood, $1,000.
ãFormer Enquirer publisher William Keating of Cincinnati, $1,000.
ãJoe Koester, owner of Herzog Jewelers and a member of the Kenton County GOP Executive Committee, $1,000.
ãCincinnati businessman Carl Lindner, the majority owner of The Cincinnati Reds, and members of his family, $6,000.
ãKenton County GOP activist and fund-raiser Paula Miller, $1000.
ãNorthern Kentucky University Regent Alice Sparks, $2,000.
ãFrank Sommerkamp, a retired Cincinnati Bell lobbyist, $250.
ãVilla Hills lawyer Lawson Walker, $1,000.
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