Boroughs brings in $205K in final quarter of 2019 in bid to challenge Joe Wilson
A Democrat looking to pull off an upset in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, had another productive fundraising quarter, but raised less than what she had brought in each of the two previous quarters.
Adair Ford Boroughs, a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, received about $205,800 in contributions during the final quarter of 2019 and ended the year with more than $403,000 cash on hand, her campaign said.
In total, Boroughs has raised more than $700,000 in her bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Springdale, more than any first time Democratic candidate in the 2nd Congressional District.
The record was previously held by Robert Miller in 2008.
Wilson raised $163,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019, his campaign released Tuesday evening. However it did not immediately release its cash on hand amount.
Boroughs’ campaign on Tuesday also announced an endorsement from End Citizens United, a PAC that wants to end dark money in politics.
“Adair Boroughs is rejecting corporate PAC money and proving to South Carolinians that she’ll show up, listen and always put them first,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Corruption runs amok in Washington, but Adair is building a movement powered by small-dollar donors to change how Congress works.”
The Citizens United Supreme Court case ruling allowed for unlimited amounts of money from entities such as corporations, unions and nonprofits, to be donated to Super PACs allowing those organizations to have more influence on elections.
Boroughs has pledged not to take corporate PAC donations in her campaign.
“South Carolinians deserve a leader who will represent them, not corporate interests, in Congress,” Boroughs said. “The people of this district are facing too much right now ... to have a Congressman who answers only to the people causing those problems.”
The campaign cited rising drug costs, stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure and climate change threats as examples of those challenges.
Fundraising since the second quarter of 2019, Boroughs raised more than $245,600 from April through June, and followed it up with more than $250,600 from July through September. That amount — more than $496,000 was more than the nearly $418,700 Republican Wilson raised in the first three quarters of 2019.
Wilson, who has been in office since 2001, remains confident.
“I’m really grateful I’m ahead of where I was two years ago. We do have a very serious challenge and I’m going to be prepared,” Wilson said during a recent interview with the State. “I do fully understand the Democratic Party, at every level, is incredibly financed that is something we’ll have to face.”
Only one other Democratic candidate has raised money in the 2nd District. Lawrence Nathaniel, of Columbia, reported more than $21,500 in contributions through the end of September. He however has suspended his campaign. Filing for the seat is in March.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 12:01 PM.
