Kelly Has Plenty Of Challengers, Plenty Of Cash

Rep. Sue Kelly (pictured left with Sen. John McCain who helped his fellow Republican at a recent fundraiser) has about $1.2 million in cash to spend , so far, on her campaign for re-election.

Kelly, the Republican incumbent in New York's 19th Congressional District, filed her mid-year campaign finance report with the Federal Election Commission today.

Kelly raised $393,000 in the April-June quarter, putting her at $1.43 million for the cycle. Kelly has said for months - as her Democratic opponents have been doing battle against her and each other - that it is too early to campaign. She apparently stuck to that strategy during the quarter, spending only $146,000 ("only" being a relative term here), leaving her with $1.21 million to spend the rest of the way.

19TH DISTRICT DEMS FILE TOO

Five Democrats remain in the race for Kelly's seat - some more than others after looking at today's mid-year figures.

Of the three Democrats to file as of this writing, attorney Judy Aydelott of Kotonah is by far the leader in cash to spend. Aydelott raised $165,000 in the second quarter of this year and has $344,000 on hand.

John Hall, who was second in fundraising as of the Jan.-March quarter, has not filed his mid-year report yet, but a campaign official told NYPols the amount raised by Hall in the April-June quarter will "far surpass" the $165,000 raised by Aydelott in the period.

As of the end of March, Hall had raised $156,000 for the entire election cycle and had $59,00 on hand. Campaign manager Amy Little said Hall's financial data would be filed by tonight.

Ben Shuldiner, who raised $65,000 in the first quarter and had $127,000 on hand at March 31, also has not filed the mid-year report yet.

Jim Martorano and Darren Rigger, the only candidates besides Hall to win endorsements at the Democratic Pary county conventions several weeks ago (1 win each, comapared to Hall's 3), came up pretty short in the fundraising race.

Rigger raised $24,000 in the second quarter, $80,000 in the cycle so far and has $19,000 in cash on hand. Martorano raised $14,000 in the April-June period, $40,000 in the cycle so far and has $7,500 on hand.

No word yet from the Shuldiner campaign on when it expects to file the mid-year report.