This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The good news for Peter Corroon is that he has managed to raise more than any Democratic candidate for governor in recent years and likely in Utah history.
The bad news is that he's burned through much of the money, leaving Gov. Gary Herbert nearly twice as much to spend between now and the Nov. 2 election.
Herbert also has another card to play: In just two weeks, Herbert will host his biggest fundraiser of the year, the governor's fall gala, which last year raked in nearly $1 million in one night.
According to reports filed Tuesday, Corroon has racked up more than $1.5 million in his campaign account and his political action committee. He has spent more than a million dollars of that money and now has $484,200.
By comparison, Herbert has raised more than $2.1 million and has more than $1 million left in the bank.
"It takes a lot of money to run a good, effective campaign these days, and we're happy where we are. We're pleased," said Don Olsen, spokesman for the Herbert campaign. "We've had a lot of support and a lot of volunteers, and we're pleased where we're sitting."
"We feel great that we've raised over a-million-five and have over a thousand donors. It's a very competitive race and everyone will spend their money differently," said Donald Dunn, Corroon's campaign manager.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson Jr. had raised about $1.3 million through mid-September in his 2004 race against Republican Jon Huntsman Jr.
Last week, the Corroon campaign began running its first series of television ads, introducing Corroon to the public, which Dunn said cost the campaign a sizeable chunk — the campaign report shows a $241,000 expenditure for advertising.
Olsen said the Herbert television ads have been produced and will be airing "very soon."
Dunn said the election won't simply be decided by the candidate who raises the most money.
"Having the most money and spending the most money doesn't always show the winner," Dunn said. "We are making this a very competitive race and we are up strong with our paid media. We've got our plan of what we're going to do to win this race, and we feel great about it."
Corroon touts small contributions
Gov. Gary Herbert has outraised challenger Peter Corroon in dollars, but the Salt Lake County mayor touts the source of donations – mostly in small contributors.
Corroon's campaign account listed 2,811 donations of under $1,000. That compares to 272 contributions of less than $1,000 to the incumbent.
Dividing all contributions to the separate campaign accounts shows an average donation of $309 to Corroon and $1,374 to Herbert.
• These tallies do not include the political action committees controlled by the two candidates or money transferred from those PACs.