WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., has made it clear he plans to run for re-election in 2014 but has yet to gear up his campaign.
Pryor raised $27,746 and spent $28,216 during the first three months of 2012, according to his latest campaign financial report.
The $470 net loss for the quarter hardly scratched the nest egg left over from Pryor’s 2008 campaign victory. He closed March with $1,865,502 cash on hand.
Pryor ended 2008 with nearly $2.2 million cash on hand. Since then, the campaign has raised $633,698 and spent $954,542, according to reports on file with the Federal Election Commission.
In the latest report, Pryor raised almost all its funds from lobbyists and industry groups including Bechtel, Boeing, Hawker Beechcraft and Tyson Foods. Also contributing were associations representing turkey, chicken, pork, rice and cotton.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
An independent expenditure committee set up by Carlton Saffa of Little Rock has spent $9,378 this year in an effort to defeat Pryor in 2014.
The so-called super PAC Retire Pryor recently filed its first-quarter financial report with the Secretary of the Senate on April 18. It was made public on the Federal Election Commission website Tuesday.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., ended March with $74,284 cash on hand. He is not up for re-election until 2016.
Boozman raised $38,547 and spent $34,637 during the first three months of 2012, according to his latest campaign statement on file with the Federal Election Commission.
He raised $18,397 from individuals who gave less than $200 each. Another $13,150 came from individuals — mostly from Arkansas – who gave $200 or more.
Boozman raised another $7,000 from three industry groups representing Monsanto, Farmer’s Rice Cooperative and the National Agriculture Aviation Association.