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Yavapai County businessman Owen “Buz” Mills released his campaign’s spending report this week, and it turns out that he’s dropped even more cash on his dismal campaign for governor than previously imagined.
According to the report, before May 31, Mills had spent about $2.3 million, and much of the money came from his own pocket.
Mills is trailing Governor Jan Brewer in the race by about 27 points, according to the latest Rasmussen poll, and Mills’ spending spree — thanks to Arizona’s Clean Elections Law — seems to only be fueling Brewer’s campaign.
Brewer already has received about $700,000 in public money to fund her campaign, and since Mills’ is apparently makin’ it rain all over the campaign trail, Brewer stands to receive about $1.4 million more in public coin.
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We contacted Mills’ campaign to see if he has any plans to close his wallet to prevent Brewer from qualifying for any more public money, but nobody immediately got back to us this afternoon.
Brewer aside, the Rasmussen poll has Mills tied with Treasurer Dean Martin for the silver medal in the GOP primary. Martin, running as a privately funded candidate, has not yet qualified for the ballot, but we got an e-mail from his campaign this afternoon pimping a press conference where a “major announcement” will be made.
That “major announcement” probably won’t be as major as advertised — Martin insists he’s not dropping out of the race, so it’s likely his announcement is that he’s got enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
