Republicans who are running in the open 1st Congressional District race reported having raised over $1.25 million during the first half of this year.
The deadline for filing federal campaign finance reports with the Federal Elections Commission was on Monday.
Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Lee Carl Jr. raised the most money. Carl reported raising $600,618.10 and expenditures of $59,919.19 for a closing balance of $540,698.91.
Former State Sen. Bill Hightower, R-Mobile, reported raising $386,238.21. Sen. Bill Hightower has expenditures of $19,189.97 giving him a total of $367,048.24 in cash on hand.
State Rep. Christopher Pringle, R-Mobile, reports raising $215,611.70 and expenditures of $22,795.89 for a July 1 cash balance of $192,815.81.
Douglas Westley Lambert III reported receipts of $48,129.96, expenditures of $46,129.96 and a cash balance moving forward of just $2,000.
Democrats have had a harder time collecting contributions for this district that has been in Republican control since 1965.
James Averhart is the only democratic candidate to report in this filing period.
Averhart reported receipts of $16,000, expenditures of $8,000 and cash on hand of just $8,000.
Kiani Gardner has filed paperwork with the FEC as a Democrat but has not announced a candidacy or raised any money yet.
Incumbent Congressman Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, is not seeking re-election to his House seat. Byrne is instead running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Doug Jones, R-Alabama. Byrne has been in Congress since December 17, 2013. Byrne was elected in a special election after Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, vacated the office to accept a position with the University of Alabama system.
The major party primaries will be on March 3.
Federal candidates file their campaign finance reports with the FEC, while state and judicial candidates file their campaign finance reports with the Alabama Secretary of State’s office.
