Shadegg crows as Lord finds silver lining

U.S. Rep. John Shadegg: Campaign photoIn a statement, U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) is touting his record-breaking second quarter fundraising total.

"In the most recent quarter, our campaign raised $564,205, which is well over twice as much as the $235,000 raised by my opponent," wrote Shadegg. "This figure is well above our prior record for any fundraising quarter.

"While total dollars raised is an important indication of support, even more important is the amount netted after deducting ongoing campaign expenditures. By this measure, we did even better. In the most recent quarter, after deducting ongoing expenses, our campaign netted $416,000 while my opponent's campaign only netted $74,000. This means our campaign netted almost six times as much as my opponent."

Shadegg, who raised more in the second quarter than any other congressional candidate in the state, also offered a thumb of his nose at his 3rd Congressional District rival Bob Lord and the Democratic Party.

"If the Arizona Democratic Party or my opponent thought they were going to be able to out work, out raise or out spend our team, with your help we have sent them a very clear message they were wrong."

However, Lord is playing up the positive aspects of his second quarter performance. A press release put out by his campaign Tuesday night stated:

"Bob Lord is stronger than ever and has more cash on hand than the top two Republican Congressional challengers in the state, one more fact that continues to show Lord’s race to unseat Rep. John Shadegg is one of the most competitive in the state.

"With more than $706,000 cash on hand, Lord has outpaced Tim Bee, who is challenging Rep. Gabrielle Giffords for District 1, and David Schweikert, who is challenging Rep. Harry Mitchell for District 5.

"Bee has $687,000 cash on hand and Schweikert only has raised $865,000 total for his campaign."