With two weeks to go until the state general election, two Hamilton County legislative candidate have nearly a half million dollars to spend on the homestretch, according to third-quarter state financial disclosure forms.
In his third-quarter report, District 11 state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, reported $498,046.80 in campaign funds, while District 29 state Rep. Greg Vital could boast of $445,060.99 in his campaign coffers.
Watson, seeking his sixth term in the Senate, faces Democrat Tim Roberts. Vital, chasing his third full term in the House, faces Democrat Ryan Scofield.
Helping fill Watson’s war chest was $32,653.46 in third-quarter funds, according to the filing. Among those were contributions from Hamilton County Circuit Court Judges Kyle Hedrick and Jennifer Peck, Hamilton County Commissioner Steve Highlander, Hamilton County Board of Education members Felice Hadden and Gary Kuehn and Hamilton County Juvenile Court Clerk Gary Behler. He also reaped tens of thousands of dollars from political action committees (PACs), corporations and political conglomerates.
His opponent, over the same period, took in $5,829.43 and had $3,224.19 for the rest of the campaign. Among his contributors were Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair Tammy Barnes, former county party chair Rodney Strong, former state representative candidate Allison Gorman and a national Democratic group.