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Vermont's openly gay US senatorial candidate is making a strong early showing in fundraising for the 2000 campaign.
According to his campaign's Federal Election Commission financial report, Vermont Auditor of Accounts Ed Flanagan had raised $221,485.81 as of June 30, 1999.
Flanagan said $215,353 has come from individual contributors and $6,034 from political actions committees.
"It definitely says something that in the first few months of this campaign, Ed Flanagan has already raised more than two-thirds of the amount garnered by the last challenger in her entire campaign," noted Brian K. Bond, executive director of the Victory Fund.
Jan Backus expects to report about $11,000 in contributions next week. She announced her bid for the senate seat in June. She called Flanagan's financial support "impressive" in a recent Rutland Herald interview.
Republican incumbent James Jeffords is expected to file his campaign finance reports within the next week. Reports from the committees indicate that Jeffords has accumulated at least $101,500 from PACs since early 1999.
Backus, Jeffords' Democratic opposition in 1994, spent $308,069 during the entire campaign race, which saw Jeffords held to 50 percent of the vote.
" Ed Flanagan is a great candidate whose strong early financial showing is already raising more than a few eyebrows," said Bond. "Political strategists in Washington believe this will be one of the most competitive races next year for the US Senate."
