According to reports filed with SBE, Dave Albo pulled out pretty far ahead of Greg Werkheiser, who had outraised him for the last couple of cycles. The stats ended up something like this:
Cash on Hand:
Werkheiser: $127,000
Albo: $204,000
Raised this Period:
Werkheiser: $34,000
Albo: $62,000
Total Raised:
Werkheiser: $232,000
Albo: $293,000
From this one deficit, Werkheiser may have worn out his fundraising welcome. Summer is usually the time to make your fundraising calls, since the "ground game" doesn't begin in earnest until after Labor Day. We usually expect an incumbent to outraise a challenger, no matter who he or she is.
These new numbers are not encouraging for Werkheiser, who now needs to concentrate more on what Not Larry Sabato calls the "Leaking Brinks Truck" phenomenon. Werkheiser has spent much more cash than Albo, and no one is even paying attention yet. I didn't initially see this problem as a huge deal because any challenger needs to dump a load of cash to prop up his name ID. However, if Werkheiser can't reverse his fundraising slowdown, he's going to end up in the hole by October.
We're still calling this race for Albo, although we expect a big cash drop into Werkheiser's anemic accounts by the DNC or the DPV during the next reporting period. The Dems really want this one and the district may be starting to lean their way, but the GOP is not going to let their young heir-apparent to the House Courts of Justice Committee get beaten. That would be too big a trophy.
