Big Bucks Flowing Into Governor's Race

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence has raised more than $5 million in his bid to succeed Gov. Mitch Daniels compared to $1.7 million raised by his likely Democratic opponent, former House Speaker John Gregg. Pence's campaign financial disclosure statements show he has $3.7 million on hand to spend, while Gregg has more than $1.2 million. It looks like Pence's campaign is proving very costly to run, even if he does have a big money advantage over Gregg. His opponent had a more sharply worded response to Pence's money advantage according to the Star's Mary Beth Schneider:

"If you're a sitting member of probably the most unpopular elected body in the United States, you'd need more money to get people to vote for you. You've got to get the stink off of you," Gregg said. "It's going to take a lot of cash to scrub that congressional whiff off of him."

Pence, unlike Gregg, faces a well-financed primary opponent. Businessman Jim Wallace has raised more than $1 million, most of which came in a form of a loan from the candidate. Wallace has more than $786,000 on hand. Libertarian Rupert Boneham's nontraditional, third party candidacy has raised only $16,000 to date. Boneham begins the race with very high name recognition due to his successful appearance as a "Survivor" contestant.

It really bothers me how campaigns are becoming increasingly expensive, and the major party candidates are relying more and more on a handful of very wealthy individuals to finance their campaigns. Many of Pence's large donations are coming from people who don't even live in Indiana. It doesn't offer much hope to the discontented masses that their voices will be heard by those elected to office. Last year's Indianapolis mayor's race cost close to $9 million. At the pace the gubernatorial candidates are going, the cost of this year's governor's race will break all-time records. Pence is already out-pacing Daniels' record-setting fundraising from his first campaign for governor.