Edwards raises more in governor's race [View all]

BATON ROUGE, La. — Republicans challenging Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards couldn't match the Democrat's fundraising pace as they ready for final advertising blitzes ahead of the Oct. 12 election, but GOP businessman Eddie Rispone is using his own money to reach Edwards' spending levels.

The Deep South's only Democratic governor raised more than $1.6 million in the latest fundraising period from July 5 through Sept. 2.

U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham brought in $761,000 for his governor's bid and Rispone drew $147,000 from donors, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed Thursday night with the state ethics administration office.

Rispone, however, continued to pour his own money into the campaign to maintain a similar pace of spending as Edwards. A wealthy owner of an industrial contracting company, Rispone added another $1.5 million to boost his personal loans to the campaign to $11.5 million.

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/national/story/2019/sep/14/edwards-raises-more-governors-race/795017/