Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch has the most cash on hand in a three-way race for governor, but U.S. Sen. Mike is out-raising her and businessman Eric Doden, according to campaign finance filings due last week. All three announced candidates are Republicans.
Braun’s campaign logged more than $2.9 million in contributions — some of it transferred from his own federal accounts — during the period running July 2022 through the end of that year, according to filings. Braun’s next-biggest donor was the Wisconsin-based Hoosier PAC, at $500,000.
He also kept spending light, recording just $11,000 in expenses largely labeled as credit card merchant fees.
Braun didn’t enter the race until the end of November.
Crouch’s campaign, meanwhile, recorded more than $900,000 in contributions, according to her filings. Her top donor was automobile industry executive Richard Keith Byers.
And Crouch also spent more, at $250,000 — much of it related to advertising, events and meetings. She also gave to numerous political campaigns and county Republican groups. But Crouch began with $2.5 million in the bank.
Her campaign still holds a narrowing lead in cash on hand, with nearly $3.2 million in the bank by the end of last year, compared to Braun’s $2.9 million.
Doden, who has been running for governor since 2021, began July with a hefty $1.2 million on hand, but added just $676,000 in the most recent period, according to his filings. He spent almost as much as Crouch, at $220,000, ending 2022 with a still-significant $2.8 million.
That’s despite plugging large amounts of his own cash into the campaign: Doden and his wife Maci each donated $50,000 during that period of time, for a total of $100,000. Fort Wayne-based Ambassador Enterprises LLC, an investment company founded and run by Doden’s father, was his biggest donor with $100,000.
Doden was also the only candidate who reported debt: about $25,000 owed to Tennessee-based Red Dog Media, an internet marketing company.