ELECTIONS 2014: Gov. Haley has $1 million more to spend in final blitz (updated)

Republican Gov. Nikki Haley has almost $1 million more to spend in the final two weeks of her re-election bid after again out-fund-raising her Democratic challenger, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen.

According to numbers released Monday, Sheheen finds himself fighting from behind in both money and among voters as the Nov. 4 election approaches.

A voter survey released Monday shows the first-term governor from Lexington with a commanding lead over the Camden Democrat. Haley leads Sheheen by 20 percentage points in the poll by several S.C. media outlets.

Sheheen’s campaign bragged Monday that it had raised $803,568 since July 1 — nearly $250,000 more than any of the Democrat’s previous quarters in this election cycle.

But that fell short of the $1.2 million that Haley raised in the same period. That haul left the Republican with more than $1.4 million in cash on hand — enough to spend about $100,000 a day until voters go to the polls.

Sheheen has $577,785 in cash on hand for the final two weeks.

The fund-raising numbers came from the campaigns. Campaign reports to the S.C. Ethics Commission were not filed by publication deadline. They were due by midnight Monday.

Haley has raised more than $8 million in her re-election bid — twice as much money as she collected during her 2010 run. She is in a rematch with Sheheen, whom she beat by 4.5 percentage points in 2010.

“Gov. Haley — and our entire team — are grateful for the overwhelming support,” campaign spokeswoman Chaney Adams said. “We couldn't be more excited to have the resources on hand to make sure every voter understands how Gov. Haley makes a difference.”

Sheheen has raised more than $3.5 million in his second race for governor — about $500,000 short of the total that he raised in his 2010 campaign.

Haley has used her money advantage to air more television advertisements.

She had spent $2.2 million on TV ads through last week, about 50 percent more than Sheheen’s $1.5 million, according to data collected by the Center for Public Integrity. She has aired 10 campaign ads to the Democrat’s six.

Sheheen’s campaign remains confident despite the numbers.

“As we near Election Day, grassroots support for Vincent is gaining even more momentum as South Carolinians rally behind his vision for honest leadership and real accountability in South Carolina,” campaign spokesman Andrew Whalen said. “South Carolinians are ready for a governor they can trust; they’re ready to elect Vincent Sheheen.”

Petition candidate Tom Ervin, a former state lawmaker and judge, had not released his fund-raising data by late Monday.

The Greenville attorney, who has self-financed much of his campaign, spent more than $2 million in ads over the summer, his campaign said. As of June 30, he had loaned his campaign $1.5 million and raised just $62,000 from donors.

Poll numbers released Monday showed voter support for Ervin had more than tripled to 11 percent since mid-summer.

Third-party candidates, Libertarian Steve French and United Citizens candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves, also had not released their fund-raising reports as of late Monday.

Update: Ervin, the petition candidate, collected $2.3 million from July 1 through mid-October -- more than Haley and Sheheen combined though almost all of it came from personal and bank loans.

He has $1.2 million on hand. Ervin has remained distant third in polls despite outspending Sheheen, a major-party candidate.

Since entering the race in March, Ervin has self-financed $3.8 million of his campaign and raised just under $100,000 from outside contributors. He has gathered as much money as Haley did in her 2010 bid for governor.

Ervin has borrowed $2.2 million from himself and $1.6 million from Arthur State Bank, according to data filed with the state Ethics Commission.

French and Reeves, the third-party candidates, did not submit campaign finance reports on Monday.

This story was originally published October 21, 2014 at 6:12 AM with the headline "ELECTIONS 2014: Gov. Haley has $1 million more to spend in final blitz (updated)."