The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

August 27, 2011

Tomblin, Maloney turn in campaign expense reports

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tom-blin turned in his campaign expense report Friday, showing his bid to become governor in his own right has generated $1,254,433.79.

His Republican rival, Bill Maloney, has raised $392,985.24.

In a statement, the Tomblin campaign staff said it has $991,7121.47 in hand, while Maloney has $576,703.15 for his candidacy, most of which has come from his personal resources, as it did when he won the Republican nomination in May.

Tomblin’s campaign manager, Joe Shafer, said the governor’s opponent gave himself a $750,000 loan, and one-third of that came a day before the filing deadline.

More than 1,800 people donated money to the Tomblin campaign, Shafer said.

“Bill Maloney wants to buy this election with money he made when he sold his business and saw jobs move to Pennsylvania,” Shafer said.

“West Virginians won’t let that happen. They appreciate the work Gov. Tomblin is doing to create more jobs and responsibly lower taxes.”

Michelle Yi, a spokeswoman for the Maloney campaign, said the Republican candidate isn’t bothered by the amount of money Tomblin has racked up, saying the source of his funds needs to be considered.

“Of course, the career politicians, lobbyists, insiders and those looking for corporate handouts are going to bet on their guy, Earl Ray Tomblin, to keep the status quo while West Virginia taxpayers and working families continue to suffer,” she said.

Yi said the Maloney campaign appreciates the support it is getting across the state. “We’ve always said we’re going to run a fully funded and aggressive campaign,” she said.

Financial reports show Tomblin spent some $2.3 million in the primary and general election cycles, while Maloney shell-ed out $1.5 million, in a court-ordered election to succeed Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who vacated the office and succeeded the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd.

A fresh poll by The Mellman Group showed Tomblin ahead of Maloney by 14 points, heading to the Oct. 4 balloting, but Yi said the Morgantown businessman wasn’t worried, noting he trailed fellow Republican Betty Ireland substantially in the primary.

“We were down 30 points one month out of the primary, so we’re actually in a better place now than we were in the primary,” she said.

“We’re going to win.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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