Rep. David Schweikert's campaign spent more money in the past three months than it took in, a sign his re-election efforts are sputtering midway through the year.

Schweikert, a five-term Arizona Republican who has attracted three Democratic challengers in the GOP-leaning 6th Congressional District, raised $237,000 from all sources and spent nearly $308,000 between April and June, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

It left his campaign with about $170,000 in cash. The campaign also had nearly $91,000 in debt at the end of the quarter, most of it for legal expenses.

Legal expenditures, much of it related to a pending ethics investigation, accounted for $244,000 of Schweikert's campaign spending.

Chris Baker, a Schweikert campaign consultant, dismissed the poor showing. He vowed that the legal expenses would come down and that the debt was largely paid off.

"It's a one-off situation. It's not going to continue," he said. "We're quite confident this is a one-off situation."

None of the state's other eight House representatives spent more than they raised in the latest quarter. Schweikert's spending doubled the next-highest figure among Arizona members of Congress.

Schweikert's cash reserves were lower than every Arizona incumbent except for Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., the dean of the state's House delegation who occupies a safely Democratic district.

Schweikert's debt is topped only by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., whose campaign still owes him $116,000 for a loan in his 2016 campaign.

Taken as a whole, it is a troubling financial appearance for the Schweikert campaign.

By comparison, at the same point in 2017, Schweikert's campaign raised $205,000 but spent only $123,000. It finished the first half of that year with $236,000 in cash and reported no debt.

Allegations of unethical conduct have swirled around Schweikert's campaign for more than a year, hindering fundraising and requiring more legal direction and cash resources.

During the latest campaign reporting period, the Office of Congressional Ethics detailed its investigation of Schweikert's former long-time chief of staff, Oliver Schwab. At the same time, a yearlong probe by the House Ethics Committee is weighing whether Schweikert's campaign or office misspent funds.

Schweikert has blamed much of the dispute on Schwab and has characterized it in the past as essentially a bookkeeping dispute.

One of his Democratic challengers is ahead of him in money, though it is unclear how much it will mean in a traditionally Republican-leaning district.

Democrat Hiral Tipirneni raised $440,000 from all sources and finished the quarter with $445,000 in cash. Her campaign also carried $70,000 in debt from Tipirneni's unsuccessful runs in another district in 2018.

Anita Malik raised $59,000 and Stephanie Rimmer had $131,000, mainly because she loaned her campaign $100,000.

Baker said that won't matter in a GOP-leaning district with a veteran incumbent.

"It does not matter how much Hiral or another Democrat outraises us. They will still lose this race," he predicted. "We will have more than enough to win this race by a substantial margin."

Even so, the latest reports likely hearten Democrats, who see Schweikert’s Scottsdale-based 6th District as a pickup possibility. Schweikert has held the seat since its creation ahead of the 2012 elections.

So far, political pundits, such as the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, still rate the race as "likely Republican."

Schweikert's latest campaign finance report shows he raised $118,000 from individual donors and $64,000 from political-action committees.

During the 2018 campaign cycle, Schweikert sought to repay the remaining $132,000 of a $225,000 loan he made to his campaign in 2009, FEC records show. He did so last year by shifting that much from his current campaign committee, known as Friends of David Schweikert, to the older committee, known as David Schweikert for Congress.

The FEC indicated in February that the transactions may violate rules against such transfers if the current committee already had unpaid debts. At the end of March, Schweikert's current committee posted nearly $252,000 in debt.

Baker said the dispute involving Schweikert's older committee has been resolved.

Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.

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