Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s fundraising has slowed as she considers running for re-election in Arizona, according to a new campaign finance report filed Tuesday night.
The first-term senator raised just $595,000 in the final three months of the year, a notable drop from the third quarter of fundraising, when she raised $826,000.
Sinema’s campaign fundraising has declined every quarter in 2023. But she still has millions left to spend on a potential re-election bid, and she ended December with $10.6 million in her campaign account, a potential advantage. against her competitors who raised significantly more money in the fourth quarter, but did not enter the campaign with the same cash reserves as Sinema.
Sinema has time to make her decision by 2024: Arizona’s filing deadline isn’t until April. But his opponents are already filling their campaign coffers.
Although they have not yet filed their fundraising reports, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego’s campaign announced earlier this month that it raised $3.3 million in the most recent fundraising quarter, and Republican Kari Lake announced she raised $2.1 millionaccording to Politico.
About half of Sinema’s fourth-quarter fundraising came from individual donors. The rest came from PACs and other fundraising committees.
Former Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s dormant Senate campaign committee and its affiliated PAC transferred a combined total of $9,000 to Sinema. And his presentation included at least one show of support from a current Senate colleague: New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s “A New Direction” PAC contributed $5,000.
The Arizona senator spent nearly $800,000 in the final three months of 2023. Security expenses made up a significant portion of her spending, including about $185,000 on security-related items, plus an additional $77,000 for a security vehicle at a Chevrolet dealership from Scottsdale.
Sinema also spent another $140,000 on digital advertising and an advance to a digital advertising company, nearly $36,000 on accommodations and $19,000 on airfare.