Iowa SD 18 Dem candidate still outraising GOP rival

Iowa Senate District 18 Democratic candidate Liz Mathis raked in $64,306  between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1 and took in-kind contributions worth $269,898, outraising Republican Cindy Golding.

Golding raised $42,038 and took in-kind contributions totaling $94,061 during that same period.

Liz Mathis

Mathis also spent more than Golding and had more cash on hand at the end of the reporting period. She spent $46,519 over those two weeks and had $58,629 on hand, while Golding spent $36,656 and had $14,640 on hand.

Mathis’s largest expenditures were for advertising, including $13,500 to The Pivot Group, Inc., of Washington, D.C.; and $10,115 to KCRG in Cedar Rapids. She also gave $20,000 to the Iowa Senate Majority Fund.

The Iowa Democratic Party accounted for nearly all of Mathis’s in-kind contributions, mostly for printing, postage and advertising. Arvind Dandekar, the husband of former State Sen. Swati Dandekar (D-Marion), contributed $300 through holding a fundraiser for Mathis.

Dandekar stepped down from her position representing the district in order to take a position with the Iowa Utilities Board.

Cindy Golding

Mathis took $5,000 from Justice For All Political Action Committee in Cedar Rapids, as well as large contributions from worker-backed political action committees:

* $10,000 from IAFF FIREPAC Non-Federal in Des Moines

* $10,000 from Great Plains Laborers’ District Council Iowa PAC in Des Moines

* $3,000 from Operating Engineers Local 234 Political Fund in Des Moines

* $2,500 from Laborers’ 309 Political Action Committee in Rock Island, Ill.

* $2,500 from Heavy Highway Political Action Committee in Des Moines

* $2,000 from Laborer’s Local #340 in Elkader

* $2,000 from Laborers’ PAC in Des Moines

* $1,500 from United Union of Roofers Pol Ed and Leg Fund of Iowa in Marion

* $1,000 from Civil Servants Political Education League in Des Moines

* $1,000 from I.B.E.W. Local 1362 Political Action Fund #6216 in Cedar Rapids

* $1,000 from Ironworkers Local #89 Political Education Fund in Cedar Rapids

* $1,000 from Laborers Local 430 Political Fund in Sioux City

* $1,000 from International Brotherhood of Boilermakers in Kansas City, Kan.

Mathis and Golding are locked in a special election that will determine control of the Iowa Senate, in a race that has attracted from groups like the National Organization for Marriage. Democrats hold a slim 25-24 advantage in the Senate, and last year succeeded in blocking controversial legislation – like a ban on same-sex marriage and increased abortion restrictions – from the Republican-dominated Iowa House.

The election is Nov. 8.