Reynolds’ campaign has $2.5 million headed into November; Dejear’s has $366K

Gov. Kim Reynolds has more than six times as much cash on hand as her opponent Democrat Deidre DeJear heading into the final stretch of the campaign season, new campaign finance reports show.

Reynolds reported raising more than $2.2 million during the reporting period, according to reports filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. She spent more than $5 million this quarter, which lasted from July 15 to Oct. 14.

DeJear reported just over $800,000 in campaign donations in that same period, and spent more than $940,000. She ended the period with about $366,000 in cash on hand, while Reynolds has a remaining balance of nearly $2.5 million.

The fundraising gap between Iowa’s gubernatorial candidates has remained significant throughout the entire campaign season. Reynolds has raised almost $4.3 million total since the beginning of the year, while DeJear neared $1.9 million. The governor started 2022 with nearly $4.8 million in her war chest, while her challenger began with less than $9,000.

Reynolds, who seeks her second full term as governor, also leads in recent polls and forecasts heading into the midterms. Over half of likely Iowa voters in the recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, 52%, said they would support the incumbent governor in the November election. The poll found 35% of likely voters support DeJear, leaving a 17 percentage-point margin between the candidates. Election forecasters, like Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report predict the race is solidly in Reynolds’ favor.

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Rick Stewart trailed the two major party candidates in the campaign finance reports, raising just under $54,000 and ending the quarter with roughly $68,000 cash on hand. In the Iowa Poll, 4% of likely voters said they would support the third party candidate.

Republicans also outraised Democrats in other statewide races on Iowa’s ballot this year. Brenna Bird, who is challenging longtime incumbent state Attorney General Tom Miller, raised more than $2.3 million in the reporting period. Miller raised more than $1 million. Their party associations contributed a majority of those funds: The Republican Attorneys General Association contributed $1.8 million to Bird, and the Democratic Attorneys General Association gave $800,000 to Miller.

Another longtime Democratic incumbent, state Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald, was outraised by his Republican challenger. Iowa Sen. Roby Smith ended the quarter with $224,000 cash on hand in his bid to unseat Fitzgerald, who held $10,000.

Incumbent state auditor Rob Sand was the sole Democrat in Iowa’s statewide races to end the quarter with more money than the Republican opponent. He ended the quarter with $618,000 while Republican Todd Halbur reported less than $4,000.