By RONNIE ELLIS
FRANKFORT — Jim Bunning said he is “not going to re-think” running for re-election next year in light of difficulties he’s encountered raising money for the campaign and thinks now that $7 million – not his original estimate of $10 million – will be enough to finance his campaign.
Bunning, 77, the Republican Kentucky Senator who wants a third term even though some in his party seem to think he should step aside, told Kentucky reporters recently that his fundraising was going “lousy.”
But Tuesday he said that during the first quarter “it turned out to be a little better than lousy, but it was pretty bad.” Bunning reported to the Federal Election Commission last week that he’d raised $262,843 during the first quarter, especially meager for an incumbent. One of his announced Democratic challengers, Kentucky Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, reported raising $429,550 during the same time frame.
Mongiardo, who lost to Bunning narrowly in 2004, announced in December he’d run again for the seat. Since then, Darlene Fitzgerald Price, a former U.S. customs agent from McCreary County, and Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway have also announced they’ll run. Conway announced after the first quarter FEC filing deadline.
Bunning has said his fundraising is going poorly because his “party leadership” – presumably Senate Republican Leader and Kentucky’s other U.S. senator, Mitch McConnell, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who heads up the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee – have discouraged prospective donors to his campaign. But Bunning said he raised between $70,000 and $75,000 at a northern Kentucky fundraiser in April attended by former L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda and about $50,000 last week at an event attended by Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour at the Prospect home of Bill Samuels, CEO of Maker’s Mark. Both of those events occurred after the first-quarter period covered by the FEC report.
Bunning said his fundraising “has picked up,” and instead of his re-thinking the race, Bunning said Democrats who want to challenge him may wish to reconsider.
“Maybe the re-thinking will have to be done on the other side of the aisle since they’ve got a primary,” Bunning said. The Democratic primary also may mean he’ll need less money than the original $10 million goal he set for his re-election effort, a goal he’s already twice revised downward.
“I don’t think probably I’ll need $10 million with most of the Democrat money being spent in a primary,” Bunning said. “I think I can get by with about the same amount I had last time (in 2004) which was about $7 million. So, I’ve lowered my sights because of the intensity of the primary on the other side.”
Bunning, however, isn’t absolutely assured he won’t have his own primary. State Sen. President David Williams, R-Burkesville, appears to be considering the race. Although he won’t confirm or deny he’s interested, Williams has hinted at several Lincoln Day Dinners this spring he might be a candidate in 2010. Secretary of State Trey Grayson has said he’s interested in the Senate seat but won’t oppose Bunning, his long-time “friend and mentor.”
Bunning also said he will vote against Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as President Barack Obama’s nominee for Secretary of the Health and Human Services Cabinet because of her lack of experience in health care and her support of abortion rights and ties to Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas doctor who performs late-term abortions. He said he visited with Sebelius for 30 minutes or so, and “I told her I couldn’t support her.”
Later Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee voted in favor of the nomination 15-8 with Bunning one of the eight no votes. The nomination must be voted on by the full Senate.
RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com.
