Gaines Raises $200,000 Plus In Race For 117th House Seat

Houston Gaines, running as a Republican in the special election for House District 117, has raised more than $200,000 for his campaign and, as of Oct. 25, had more than $140,000 in unspent funds.

All of the money Gaines has raised is in the form of contributions, with large amounts coming from the campaign funds of politicians and from corporate interests.

Deborah Gonzalez, running as a Democrat in the 117th, has raised $56,896, including a $5,000 loan. She had $36,264 unspent as of Oct. 30.

Tom Lord, running as a Republican in the special election for House District 119, has raised $59,325, including a $20,000 loan he gave his campaign. He had $13,788 on hand as of Oct. 26.

Steven Strickland, a Republican running in the 119th, has raised $9,910, including a $9,000 loan he made to his campaign. He had $3,174 on hand as of Oct. 29.

Jonathan Wallace, the sole Democratic candidate in the Special Election for the 119th, has raised $41,592, which does not include any loans. He had $24,787 on hand as of Oct. 29.

Marcus Wiedower, also running as a Republican in the 119th, has raised $37,220, including a $4,000 loan he made to himself. He had $8,860 unspent as of Oct. 30

Gaines has raised $36,007 more than the other five candidates combined, if their loans are removed from the totals, and had $53,562 more in unspent money in the last weeks of the campaign than all five other candidates combined, including money those candidates had loaned themselves.

These figures come from the Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report each candidate was required to file by Oct. 23, with a grace period until midnight on Oct. 30.

For details of the story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Gaines, Gonzalez, Lord, Strickland, Wallace, Wiedower.