Kelly Craft has loaned herself $10M in run for governor. Here are the numbers

With just two weeks to go until the primary election in Kentucky, Kelly Craft has dominated spending among the Republican candidates for governor — thanks to nearly $10 million of personal loans to her campaign.

Wednesday was the deadline for candidates and committees to file their final reports with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, indicating what each had raised and spent in the past two weeks, with the May 16 primary now just 12 days away.

Craft reported loaning her campaign another $2,250,000, bringing the total she has loaned her campaign since entering the race last September to just shy of $9.3 million. She also has raised an additional $1.5 million from other donors.

Up through the end of the last pre-primary reporting period that ended Monday, Craft's campaign had spent a total of $9.6 million — nearly nine times more than her closest rival in the GOP primary.

Craft's personal contributions to her campaign are the most ever for a gubernatorial candidate in Kentucky, breaking the record of Democrat Bruce Lunsford, who contributed $8.2 million of his own wealth to his unsuccessful bid in 2003. Candidates who loan money to their campaigns are subsequently allowed to fundraise to pay themselves back and retire the campaign debt.

More: With ads and attacks: Kelly Craft 'all in' to win GOP nod for Kentucky governor

The $9.6 million spent by her campaign so far is also a record for a gubernatorial candidate in a Kentucky primary, with more than $4 million of that directed to TV ads, enabling Craft to blanket airwaves across the state since Christmas. She also reported having $1.2 million on hand left to spend for the final two weeks of the campaign.

Placing second in total primary spending among the Republican candidates with $1.1 million is Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron — the perceived front-runner in the primary who has led in the only independent polling of the race.

Cameron raised another $82,305 over the past two weeks, brining his total campaign haul since entering the race last May to $1.4 million. His campaign also reported having $341,227 on hand.

PACs playing heavy role

While Cameron has been greatly outspent on the airwaves by Craft — placing just more than $500,000 of TV ads — he has been assisted by Bluegrass Freedom Action, an unauthorized campaign committee that has spent roughly $2 million on ads.

Bluegrass Freedom Action raised another $810,830 over the past two weeks, with most of that again coming from The Concord Group, a conservative dark money group that is able to shield the identity of its donors.

The Concord Group has given $2.2 million to Bluegrass Freedom Action, making up the large majority of the $2.7 million total it has raised — with another $750,000 left to spend for the final stretch of the campaign.

More: Here's who is funding the PACs putting up TV ads in Kentucky's GOP primary for governor

Craft has benefited from her own unauthorized campaign committee as well, with Commonwealth PAC spending nearly $1.8 million, roughly $1.2 million of that going to TV ads.

Commonwealth PAC reported no additional contributions and little spending in the past two weeks, though it was largely bankrolled by a $1.5 million contribution from Joe Craft, the coal magnate husband of Kelly Craft.

While candidates are legally prohibited from coordinating with unauthorized campaign committees, Kelly Craft has denied that her husband's contribution amounts to such and says she had no idea her husband was bankrolling the PAC. The director of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance has said his office is reviewing whether the spouse's contribution is within election rules.

The ads aired by Bluegrass Freedom Action and Commonwealth PAC have mostly been negative, attacking Craft and Cameron, respectively. The anti-Cameron ads have painted him as a "woke" teddy bear who is soft on crime, while the PAC ads hitting Craft have criticized her attendance as ambassador to Canada and accused her of a misleading ad about fentanyl.

Quarles running third, as Beshear nears $7 million

Placing third among GOP gubernatorial candidates in fundraising and spending is Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who picked up another $33,567 in contributions over the past two weeks.

Quarles has now raised more than $1.2 million since entering the race last May and spent nearly $778,000 — most of which was directed to his first TV ad buy last week of nearly $600,000.

There is also an independent PAC supporting Quarles, though it has remained inactive and not raised nearly as much as the ones supporting Craft and Quarles. Conservative Action PAC reported raising its first $45,000 two weeks ago, but it has not spent any funds yet.

More: Kentucky governor hopeful Ryan Quarles wants to pitch GOP ideas, not insults

The campaign of Republican candidate Eric Deters also has reported spending $765,504 since entering the race in late 2021, with nearly all of his funds coming from the candidate's personal contributions. More than half a million of the spending reported by Deters went toward printing and mailing campaign materials.

Placing fifth in the GOP field in spending has been Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, who has raised $325,834 and spent $291,279. Keck also has an independent PAC supporting his campaign, with the Bluegrass Conservatives PAC raising $92,500 in the past two weeks and spending $67,000 on campaign mailers.

The large majority of funds raised by Bluegrass Conservatives came from Prosperity Alliance Inc., a dark money group that does not just shield its donors' identities, but had its director involved in another mysterious dark money group that attacked several GOP state legislators in their 2022 primary races.

On the Democratic side, Gov. Andy Beshear reported raising another $352,000 over the past two weeks, bringing his total campaign haul to just shy of $7 million.

Beshear's campaign should to have plenty of money left for the general election campaign, as he is not expected to face much of a challenge in the Democratic primary. His campaign has reported spending less than $900,000 since declaring his reelection bid in the fall of 2021.

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

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky governor's race 2023: Kelly Craft has loaned herself $10M