VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) - This year’s race for Washington’s 3rd U.S. House District is the most expensive in the southwest Washington district’s history.
The Columbian reports Democrat Carolyn Long and Republican incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler set the record two years after setting the previous high mark in their 2018 contest, which Beutler won.
Together, the candidates have raised a total of $7.12 million as of Sept. 30, the last major reporting milestone before Nov. 3. That beats their 2018 total of $6.5 million, which also set a record at the time.
The contest has been eyed by both major parties as a potentially vulnerable seat, after a decade spent as a solid conservative stronghold.
The candidates are nearly even in their fundraising numbers, with an edge to the five-term incumbent. Since announcing her campaign in July 2019, Long has raised a total of $3.47 million; Herrera Beutler raised a total of $3.65 million this cycle.
The latest quarterly report from the Federal Elections Commission shows that both candidates ramped up their fundraising efforts in the third quarter of 2020, with close results - between July and September, Long raised $1.24 million and Herrera Beutler brought in $1.13 million.
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