Cain outraises Baldacci in 2nd District race by nearly five times in 2015

Democrat Emily Cain has raised nearly five times more than Joe Baldacci in their 2016 primary for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, but they’ll both lag far behind Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin.

Cain, a former state senator from Orono who lost to Poliquin in 2014, said in a Tuesday news release that she raised $787,000 in 2015, well ahead of the $161,000 raised by Baldacci, a Bangor city councilor, lawyer and the brother of former Gov. John Baldacci. That doesn’t include a $32,000 loan that Baldacci gave to his campaign.

Those figures came out ahead of the Jan. 31 deadline for filing fundraising figures for the last three months of 2015 with the Federal Election Commission.

Poliquin hasn’t released updated figures, but he’s beating both Cain and Baldacci handily: He raised $1.6 million through September and should report adding significantly to that haul in 2015’s last quarter.

Cain only released top-line figures on Tuesday, but her campaign said she raised $277,000 in the quarter and has $550,000 in her coffers. Baldacci’s filing said he raised $68,000 in the quarter with $76,000 left on hand.

It’s a sign of Cain’s institutional support in the primary. She has the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and has been recently rolling out endorsements from major groups, including the League of Conservation Voters and several unions.

Michael Shepherd

About Michael Shepherd

Michael Shepherd joined the Bangor Daily News in 2015 after covering state, federal and local issues for the Kennebec Journal for three years. He's a Hallowell native who now lives in Gardiner. He graduated from the University of Maine in 2012 and is a graduate student at the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service.