Braun raised less than Donnelly when not counting personal loans

Maureen Groppe | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption Indiana election 2018: The challenges for Mike Braun and Joe Donnelly GOP challenger Mike Braun and Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly will face off in November. Here's a look at the U.S. Senate candidates and the issues they face.

WASHINGTON — Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun has not raised as much money from campaign supporters as he recently implied, taking in less money than Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly during the last three months when personal loans are subtracted from his total.

Contributors gave Braun about $1.5 million during April, May and June, and Donnelly about $1.9 million.

Not intended to be critical: Dan Coats says he meant no disrespect to Trump

Six-figure ad: Democrat Donnelly touts praise from Trump in new campaign ad

Braun announced mid-July a "blockbuster fundraising haul for the 2nd quarter of the year: posting $2.5 million raised with over $1 million cash on hand at quarter close, including nearly $1.5 million raised since the day after the primary, without personal contributions or loans."

But the disclosure report Braun has since filed with the Senate shows nearly $1 million of his $2.5 million was in personal loans. Of that, about $350,000 was loaned after the primary.

Braun's campaign spokesman said the earlier claim of not relying on personal funds referred only to the $1.5 million his campaign said he'd raised since the primary.

Spokesman Josh Kelley declined to say if Braun will contribute additional personal funds to the campaign.

"We've had such an incredible groundswell of support from folks who believe in me and my positive message for Hoosiers, and I’m thrilled to see that momentum reflected in what we’ve done here."



RELEASE: Mike Braun Posts $2.5 Million Raised in 2nd Quarter #INSen pic.twitter.com/6cCT6a32fN — Mike Braun (@braun4indiana) July 12, 2018

Despite the loans, Braun continued to trail badly in cash to spend on the campaign. Braun reported having $1.07 million in the bank at the beginning of July, compared with Donnelly’s $6.39 million.

Braun, a Jasper businessman with two companies, had said he would not self-fund his general election campaign after spending about $6 million of his own money to win the May primary.

He’s repaid himself nearly $100,000 in four payments since the primary, while almost immediately loaning his campaign equal amounts.

People who did not contribute to Braun’s primary race can give a maximum of $2,700 to help him retire his debt. Political action committees can give $5,000.

Braun received more than $260,000 in debt retirement contributions while essentially shifting debt from the primary to the general election.

Nearly everyone who gave Braun the maximum allowed for debt retirement also gave him the maximum contribution allowed for the general election campaign.

CNN reported in May that Braun said he would not self-fund his general election campaign.

A few things Mike Braun told me last week that didn’t make it into my #INSen story:

— He won’t self-fund for the general.

— He sees himself as the new Tom Coburn.

— His favorite senators are Ron Johnson, David Perdue, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee.

— He wants to be in leadership. — Eric Bradner (@ericbradner) May 9, 2018

During the primary, Braun said that because he was mostly spending his own money, his supporters were not insiders and he could go to the “Washington swamp” without being beholden to anyone.

Since then, Braun’s campaign held multiple fundraisers in Washington and across the country. Nearly half of the $1.09 million that Braun raised in large-dollar contributions from individuals over the second quarter came from outside Indiana. (Donors who give $200 or less do not have to be identified.)

About 60 percent of Donnelly's large-dollar contributions from individuals have come from outside Indiana this election cycle, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Of the $243,400 Braun raised from political action committees in the last quarter, about 70 percent came from PACs controlled by GOP senators. More than half of the 51 Republicans in the Senate contributed to Braun, as did House Speaker Paul Ryan, Vice President Mike Pence, and a PAC supporting President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Business PACs that gave to Braun include Koch Industries' PAC and those representing companies involved in tobacco, health care, food service, contracting, wholesale distribution, energy and other industries.

But the total amount of PAC money Braun has collected since launching his campaign last year — $245,9000 — is dwarfed by the $3.6 million that Donnelly has raised from PACs. Interests that recently gave to Donnelly through PACs include banks, insurance companies, sectors of the health care industry, renewable energy and petroleum companies, and unions representing postal carriers, boilermakers, painters and other workers.

Donnelly had no primary challenger while Braun defeated two House members long involved in Indiana politics.

Some of the top backers of Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer have since contributed to Braun’s campaign. For example, Dan Dumezich, who was Rokita’s finance chairman, gave Braun the maximum $2,700 general election contribution, as did his wife.

Members of Messer’s finance committee who have given the maximum contribution to Braun include former state GOP Chairman Al Hubbard and John Hammond, one of Indiana’s representative on the Republican National Committee. (Hammond contributed $2,700 for the general election and $2,700 to pay off primary debt.)

The campaign arm of Senate Republicans transferred nearly $50,000 to Braun’s campaign.

Indiana’s Senate seat is viewed as one of Republicans’ best chances of picking up a Senate seat.

Contact Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.