LONGVIEW — If Federal Election Commission reports are like pulse checks for political campaigns, the latest quarterly filings indicate WSU Vancouver professor Carolyn Long is off to a healthy start in her bid to unseat Southwest Washington Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler.

But there’s still a yawning chasm separating Long from the Republican incumbent and her closest Democratic opponent.

Long reported raising $40,106 since formally announcing her candidacy on Nov. 30, with $34,606 of that coming from individual donors.

After spending $17,676 on her campaign, the first-time candidate had $22,205 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31

Meanwhile, two-time congressional candidate David McDevitt — who was sitting on a $309,162 war chest at year’s end — raised $4,435 from individual donors last quarter, the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.