Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

Bauer fattens war chest

Total for governor's race up to $825,000, though candidacy is not official

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, in his unofficial run for governor, has raised roughly $262,000 in the third quarter.

Bauer, 40, who has not officially announced his run, now has about $825,000 on hand to fuel his campaign. Bauer has said he plans to announce his candidacy by the end of October if Gov. Mark Sanford does not resign before then.

"Since we haven't announced, I haven't been as focused on fundraising as the others," Bauer said in a prepared statement Monday. "But it appears with $825,000 in cash in the bank, we are poised to start our campaign for governor on a level playing field."

Bauer's fundraising totals put him in third place among his Republican contenders. He has not transferred any money from his lieutenant governor account into his gubernatorial account, according to his campaign.

Last week:

- U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett announced he has raised about $1.6 million, including about $328,000 he transferred from his congressional campaign since he announced his run in March. He now has about $1.3 million on hand.

- Attorney General Henry McMaster raised about $1.09 million since he announced in August and has about $1 million on hand. McMaster's campaign will not say how much of the money was transferred from his attorney general account.

Last month, Bauer called on Gov. Mark Sanford to resign and promised, if allowed to finish out Sanford's term, he would not run for governor.

Since then, Sanford has repeatedly said he would not resign.

Leaders in the House, where impeachment proceedings must begin, are awaiting results of an investigation by the state Ethics Commission into Sanford's use of state aircraft and other resources before deciding whether to push for impeachment.

Two more Republicans running for governor have yet to release their fundraising totals.

Sen. Larry Grooms of Berkeley County and Rep. Nikki Haley of Lexington County have until Thursday to do so.

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