Coburn leads GOP field in campaign contributions

Thursday, July 15th 2004, 10:34 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Tom Coburn led the Republican field in campaign contributions in the last three months, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.

The Muskogee physician and former U.S. representative raised $717,860 in the period, outpacing fellow Republicans Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony and former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, according to the reports obtained by The Oklahoman's Washington, D.C. bureau.

However, the new reports, which cover the period from April 1 through July 7, show Humphreys outspent Coburn and Anthony each by nearly $1.4 million throughout the campaign.

Rep. Brad Carson, the leading Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat, raised more than all the Republicans, bringing in $1.1 million during the three-month period. On July 7, the last day of the reporting period, Carson had nearly $2 million in his campaign war chest.

The candidates are vying for the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Ponca City. The primaries are July 27.

Coburn entered the race in March, months after Carson, Anthony and Humphreys had begun campaigning or seriously exploring a run. Coburn's first campaign finance report, for the quarter that ended March 31, showed he had raised only about $38,000 in his first month.

He picked up steam from April through July 7, raising $632,661 from individuals, $76,499 from political action committees and $8,700 from political party committees. Coburn finished the period with $365,092 in the bank.

Anthony, who had already loaned his campaign $120,000, loaned another $130,000 to his campaign late last month. He raised another $135,263 from individuals and got $1,500 from a political action committee, giving him a total of $266,763 in receipts. Anthony had $284,393 in the bank July 7.

Humphreys' campaign took in a total of $827,408 from April through July 7, but $475,000 of that came from Humphreys himself _ $225,000 as a contribution and $250,000 as a personal loan. In contributions from others, Humphreys collected $306,786 from individuals, $39,895 from political action committees, $3,372 from another fund-raising committee and $2,355 in other receipts.

Humphreys had $223,592 in his campaign account July 7.

Last week, after the reporting period ended, Humphreys donated another $256,000 to his campaign, bringing the total of his personal loans and donations to $731,000.

Carson's report shows he raised $782,688 from individuals, another $255,605 from political action committees, $44,000 from a separate fund-raising committee and had $34,206 in offsets to his expenditures.

Carson spent $681,656 in the period and has spent a total of $948,386 since his campaign began last October through July 7.

Humphreys campaign spent the most money by far of all the candidates _ $1.34 million in the reporting period. From October, when Humphreys began his campaign, through July 7, Humphreys had spent a total of $1.8 million on the campaign.

Coburn's campaign spent $394,221 in the period, and spent a total of $395,544 from March 1, when his campaign began, through July 7. Anthony spent $393,173 in the period and a total of $432,891 from early February, when his campaign officially began, through July 7.