Iowa Senate 34 candidate fundraising soars

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County legislative candidates took in more than $170,000 in the most recent campaign fundraising reporting period with nearly half of that raised by candidates in one race.

In Senate 34, which includes a small portion of Cedar Rapids as well as Marion, Hiawatha, Robins, Ely, Bertram and southern Linn County, Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Cedar Rapids, and her challenger, Rene Gadelha, a Marion Republican, raise $83,741 of the $170,141 collected by the 17 candidates in nine general election races.

Mathis raised $55,201 to Gadelha's $28,540. That's a reversal of the previous reporting period when Gadelha received $57,935 to Mathis' $41,434, according to the reports filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Finance Disclosure Board. Mathis also has more cash on hand -- $91.923 - than Gadelha --$66,787.

Senate 34 is a key part of Republicans' plans to flip control of the Iowa Senate that currently has a 26-24 Democratic majority.

House 68, which includes Marion, Bertram, Ely and Putnam, has the only contested legislative primary in Linn County. Cedar Rapids schoolteacher Molly Donahue outraised her rival for the Democratic nomination, small business owner Sam Gray, $11,190 to $3,667. However, they have nearly the same cash on hand -- $6,558 to $6,584, respectively.

The winner of the House 68 primary will face Rep. Ken Rizer, R-Cedar Rapids, who raised $9,165 and has $39,260 in his campaign treasury.

Incumbents had a short window of opportunity to raise funds because of a prohibition on fundraising during the legislative session. The Legislature adjourned April 29, two weeks before the end of the reporting period May 14.

Candidates will be required to update their fundraising and campaign spending June 3.

Campaign fundraising reports can be found at http://iowa.gov/ethics/