Gov. Andy Beshear reports raising millions, but Kelly Craft loaned her campaign more

The campaign of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Tuesday it has now raised $6.6 million for the Democrat's reelection battle this fall — only to be outmatched by Republican Kelly Craft's $7 million personal loan to her own campaign earlier this year.

Candidates had until midnight Tuesday to file their latest campaign reports with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, with Craft now having a clear financial edge over Beshear's other potential Republican rivals vying for the GOP nomination in the May 16 primary.

Not only is Craft heavily bankrolling her campaign, but her husband, coal magnate billionaire Joe Craft, is largely funding a PAC attacking the presumed front-runner in her GOP primary, giving $1.5 million this year.

Beshear's campaign reported raising $1.4 million from the beginning of the year up until the deadline on Sunday, with his cash on hand ballooning to $5.9 million. The governor is not expected to face a serious challenge in the primary, allowing him to conserve money for the general election in the GOP-trending state.

“Governor Beshear has consistently delivered for Kentucky families while leading the Commonwealth through challenging times ― that’s why poll after poll shows that he remains one of the most popular governors in the country,” said campaign manager Eric Hyers in a press release announcing the new fundraising totals.

More: Kelly Craft takes over fundraising lead among GOP candidates in Kentucky governor race

At the end of 2022, Craft led all Republican candidates with $1.3 million raised, followed by Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who had raised just shy of $1 million.

Craft's campaign had not yet tapped into her own personal wealth by the end of last year, but she began opening her wallet Jan. 3 when she made the first of eight loans between then and last week, totaling just more than $7 million.

Those loans made up nearly all the $7.2 million raised by Craft's campaign since the beginning of the year, allowing her to blanket the airwaves with more than $3 million of TV ads.

Craft's campaign went through that loan quickly, spending more than $7 million since the beginning of the year and leaving it with $437,916 cash on hand for the rest of the primary — unless she writes herself more checks.

Asked on Wednesday about the hefty loan to her campaign, Craft said it shows she is "all in" to win the race.

"I have made it very clear: I am all in, and I'm going to go all out, because this is not about me," Craft said. "We have to focus on defeating Andy Beshear."

Cameron's report filed Tuesday night showed his campaign raising $403,520 more since the beginning of 2023, bringing his total raised since joining the race last May to nearly $1.4 million. His campaign reported spending more than $500,000 so far this year, leaving him with $593,457 cash on hand.

The filing from Quarles' campaign Tuesday night reported raising $272,647 so far this year, bringing his total haul since announcing his candidacy in May to $1.2 million. Quarles has spent only $243,985 this year, giving him just more than $900,000 cash on hand for the rest of the primary race.

Quarles has not yet spent any money to air TV ads, while Cameron did not go up with TV ads until last week — more than three months after Craft started her multimillion dollar ad buys, and well after the pro-Craft PAC bankrolled by her husband started hitting Cameron with attack ads.

More: Analysis: Here's where Kentucky's governor candidates are getting their money

Former attorney Eric Deters of Walton reported raising nearly $570,000 since the beginning of the year, with nearly all of those funds coming directly from himself. The Republican's gubernatorial campaign also reported spending nearly that same amount in the time period, and it has less than $10,000 cash on hand left.

Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, another GOP candidate running for governor, reported raising $106,876 since the beginning of 2023 and spending more than double that amount, with his campaign having $54,139 remaining.

State Auditor Mike Harmon remains well behind the other GOP candidates in fundraising, having raised less than $85,000 since first joining the race in summer 2021. His campaign reported having $14,454 cash on hand.

While a poll in January showed Cameron with a huge lead over other Republican candidates in the primary, another independent poll last week showed Craft significantly cutting into his margin, only trailing the attorney general by 6 percentage points, with Quarles also gaining ground.

Craft's campaign has also been boosted by Commonwealth PAC, an unauthorized campaign committee supporting her candidacy that has spent more than $1 million on TV ads attacking Cameron over the past month and reported raising $1.8 million so far this year.

Commonwealth PAC received a $1 million check from Joe Craft on March 1, just before it started airing ads going negative against Cameron, and then another $500,000 check from him at the end of that month.

Asked if her husband's funding of the PAC may run afoul of state campaign finance rules prohibiting coordination with candidates' campaigns, Craft said Wednesday she has not coordinated with the PAC, "so I couldn't tell you who's been funding it."

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Beshear's campaign adds millions, but Kelly Craft loans herself more