Concrete magnate Marty Ozinga III raised more funds during the second quarter than his Democrat opponent, state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, in their 11th Congressional District race.
But at least for now, Halvorson, of Crete, still holds a cash-on-hand advantage over Ozinga, the Republican candidate who so far has put only $70,000 of his cash into the race but has not ruled out donating more to bridge the gap.
Both campaigns are expected to file detailed reports with the Federal Election Commission by Tuesday's deadline.
From April 1 through June 30, Halvorson raised $404,000, bringing her campaign total to $1.27 million, according to her campaign. Her cash on hand is now more than $900,000, campaign manager Brian Doory said.
"People from across the political spectrum know she's an independent fighter, and we are confident that we will have the resources we need get our message out," he said.
During the same period, Ozinga raised more than $800,000 - receiving about 1,000 contributions, and nearly 60 percent of them were for $250 or less, his campaign said. Ozinga's cash on hand is about $650,000.
"It's clear that voters are responding to Marty's message of change," Ozinga campaign manager Andy Sere said in a statement. "In Marty Ozinga, working families have found someone who can bring real change - not the politics of Rod Blagojevich and Tony Rezko - to Washington."
Green Party candidate Jason Wallace has limited his spending to $10,000 for the entire campaign.
Ozinga's campaign has released a 30-second television spot that features him talking about his work ethic. The commercial directs viewers to a Web site - iamnotapolitician.com.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reportedly set aside money to purchase airtime on behalf of candidates across the country. Because the 11th District is one of the group's targeted races, Halvorson stands to get some of those funds in addition to radio and TV time bought by her campaign.
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