Congressional candidate Al Kissling’s second-quarter finance report indicates that his expenditures from April to June exceeded his contributions by more than $67,000, but Kissling says the report is incorrect and he has about $8,000 in cash on hand.
The report indicates that Kissling raised $10,445 during the quarter, spent $79,686.13 and had a negative cash balance at the end of the period of $67,437.43. Expenditures listed included a payment to the New Mexico Department of Labor of, according to the report, $73,098 – the likely source of the error.
“That’s not anywhere near correct,” Kissling said.
In fact, he said, he has $8,000 in the bank today, and raised a little more than $10,000 during the second quarter.
There are a couple of other problems with his report. It lists an expense of $3,110.26 as a “credit card bill” payment. Expenses paid for with credit cards are supposed to be listed separately, with a memo indicating they were paid with a credit card. That’s so that cards can’t be used to hide expenses.
In addition, Kissling raised some money through the site Act Blue during the reporting period, but that’s not reflected in the report. Either the Kissling campaign forgot to report the money or didn’t include a memo indicating it came through the third-party Web site.
The Democrat referred other questions about the report to his finance director, Rhonda Brown, who I was unable to reach.
Contributions listed on the report include $7,945 from other individuals and $2,500 from Kissling.
Also notable is the $35,000 debt to himself that Kissling’s campaign carries from his unsuccessful 2006 bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. Kissling held a fundraiser in December to help repay that money, but apparently didn’t use the cash he collected to pay down the debt.
Kissling’s report for the first quarter of 2007 indicated that that debt was down to $8,200, but he filed an amended first-quarter report late Thursday along with his second-quarter report. The debt on both reports is now reflected at $35,000 – the original amount he loaned the campaign.
Kissling said the debt is “not an issue,” saying he’ll manage to get by even if he is never able to repay it to himself.
Kissling, who received just over 40 percent of the vote against Pearce last year, is way behind Pearce and the other Democrat in the race, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley, in fundraising. Pearce raised $245,000 during the second quarter, spent just over $60,000 and ended the quarter with $383,000 on hand. McCamley raised just under $140,000, spent a little more than $6,000 and had more than $133,000 on hand.
Kissling said the fundraising gap doesn’t matter.
“One of the reasons I’m running is because I’m nauseated by the political scene this season, where campaigns are validated by the money they raise,” he said. “Frankly that’s what’s wrong with Congress, and I’m running to make a difference.”
Kissling said he won’t be owned by special interests or corporations.
He said he’s working on his campaign, and is traveling to
Kissling is working on getting the Hispanic vote. He recently spent two weeks in
“I’m feeling very good,” Kissling said. “I’m planning to campaign as a person who is knowledgeable about the issues, and not just one who makes sweeping, general statements.”