As the primary election quickly approaches, Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Miller is relying heavily on ad buys, taking out four novel self-financed loans for his campaign during the month of April to cover costs, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday.
Although Miller raised about $68,000 in donations in April, he spent nearly $2.9 million in the 30 days of the month. This is the period covered in final campaign finance reports filed before the primary.
Miller, a businessman and son of U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., self-financed four loans to his campaign — on April 10, 16, 23 and 26 — totaling $2.1 million. Dollar. In addition to the five loans he previously committed to the primary race, his total campaign loan debt is $5.15 million.
According to campaign finance reports, Miller — who has nearly $520,000 in cash — spent much of his campaign funds in April on 11 different media buys totaling $2.24 million.
That’s nearly double the total spent by all other candidates in the race during the month.
According to a MetroNews poll released Friday, Miller is tied with former Rep. Moore Capito in the governor’s race. 25% of likely Republican voters would vote for him, compared to 24% for Capito.
However, both candidates are trailing Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who received 32% of voters in the poll.
According to campaign finance reports, Morrisey has significantly outperformed Miller and Capito in the primary, with a total donation to date of $3.6 million compared to their combined donations of $1.6 million and $2.1 million, respectively -Dollar. To date, he has a cash balance of around $695,000, also more than the other candidates.
However, Miller spent more money than any other candidate over the course of the primary campaign, totaling $6.12 million. Morrisey is the second-highest donor but is still far behind Miller, spending about $3.1 million on the race so far.
Last month, Morrisey raised about $296,000 and spent nearly $1.28 million, with much of that spending ($1.13 million) going toward media buys. According to the report, the Morrisey campaign ran a total of four ads in April, about one per week.
According to the filings, Capito raised about $169,000 in donations and spent $642,000 in April. Much of his campaign spending for this period went to consulting fees totaling $582,000. The second highest expense was nearly $20,000 in returned contributions.
Rounding out the Republican primary race for governor is current Secretary of State Mac Warner, who is expected to receive about 10% of the vote in last week’s poll. With about $546,000 in donations and $379,000 in expenses, Warner has raised and spent the least amount of money of any candidate to date.
In April, Warner’s campaign raised nearly $36,000 and spent nearly $60,000. The campaign’s top spending was $31,000 on three ad buys: two to Morgantown-based WVRC Media and another to an Oklahoma company.
The primary election will take place on Tuesday, May 14th. Polls are currently open for early voting and will remain open through Saturday, May 11th. Visit the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website to find your polling place.
