A super PAC formed to help Republican gubernatorial nominee Matt Bevin in Kentucky is having some trouble meeting self-imposed fundraising goals. Texas-based GOP consultant Matt Mackowiak established the new group, called Fight for Kentucky, in early September with the stated goal of raising $1 million by Sept. 15. Now that the date has come and gone, the group remains relatively quiet.
In an email to supporters Wednesday, the group said it’s “trying to raise $100,000” to go on TV. Mackowiak declined to talk on the record about the super PAC’s progress, but it highlights a broader trend in the race to be Kentucky’s next governor: Democrats are spending more money getting their message out than Republicans.
Attorney General Jack Conway, the Democratic nominee, already spent $2 million on TV between the May 19 primary and Sept. 14, according to a Kentucky Democratic operative tracking media spending. On top of that, the pro-Conway group Kentucky Family Values—a super PAC funded by the Democratic Governors Association—has spent another $1.6 million.
On the other side, the Republican Governors Association confirmed that it spent $2.8 million through mid-September on TV ads boosting Bevin or savaging Conway (or both). But a source close to Bevin’s campaign said his first general-election ad buy, which launched just last Friday, was backed by only $140,000 on local TV.