MORGANTOWN – Three of the four candidates for the office of attorney general are the single biggest contributors to their own campaigns – either through donations or loans.
Two Republicans and two Democrats are vying for their respective party’s nomination in the May 14 primary election to succeed Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
The figures come from their Primary Reports, covering the period April 1-28. The next report is due July 8.
On the GOP side, state Auditor J.B. McCuskey faces state Sen. Mike Stuart of Kanawha County.
McCuskey, who had been running for governor for a time, pivoted to the AG’s race last July. At that point, it became a three-way race, against Stuart and state Sen. Ryan Weld, of Brooke County. But Weld dropped out last November to seek reelection to his Senate seat.
McCuskey has the better-funded account of the two. He opened the reporting period with $605,584.20. He received $29,350 from individuals and PACs, and reported $1,025.20 in account interest income.
He spent $375,345.54, leaving an account balance of $260,613.86.
His year-to-date totals are $1,071,787.06 raised and $823,018.75 spent. He donated $112,177.92 to his own campaign.
Stuart opened with $123,496.86 and received $6,438.87 in individual contributions, plus a loan to his campaign of $3,819.53.
He spent $40,638.12, leaving a balance of $93,117.14.
His year-to-date totals are $113,176.03 raised, plus $80,034.22 in loans, and $97,404.90 spent.
Democrats
Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva faces South Charleston attorney and former mayor Richie Robb. Neither has an account comparable to their GOP rivals.
Toriseva opened the period with her account $1,867.12 in the red. She received $6,786.80 from individuals and PACs, plus $1,251.56 in-kind (goods and services, not spendable cash) from herself.
She spent $2,828.41, leaving a balance of $2,071.27.
Her year-to-date totals are $19,583.11 raised (counting in-kind) and $14,098.27 spent. These figures are best estimates factoring out errors on both of her reports.
Robb opened with $2,041.45 and received a $250 donation. He spent $1,594.82, leaving a balance of $696.83.
His reports also contain errors. Factoring those out, his year-to-date totals are $2,297.46 raised and $1,600.83 spent. He contributed $1,340.17 to his campaign.
Both mistakenly doubled their year-to-date totals last report and errors from that carry over to this one.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
