In this June 2021 file photo Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., returns to the Capitol after a meeting with President Biden at the White House on the infrastructure plan. .
The lively campaign for the Democratic nomination in Congressional District 2 is already leading to big campaign hauls, more than a year before the primary election.
Dr. Randy Friese, the Tucson legislator and surgeon, announced Thursday his campaign had raised $565,000 in the quarter ending June 30. It was his first quarter on the campaign trail.
The campaign for Sen. Kirsten Engel, also a Tucson legislator, would not yet provide numbers strictly for the quarter just ended but said they have raised $325,000 overall stretching back to the first quarter of the year.
Rep. Daniel Hernandez, also a Tucson legislator, joined the race later, announcing his candidacy on May 20. His campaign reported raising $250,000.
These are unofficial totals — the deadline for filing quarterly reports is July 15. The Friese total was a big number the campaign was anxious to put out ahead of the deadline.
In a statement, the campaign noted it received donations from more than 5,000 individual donors, including many survivors and family members of victims of the Jan. 8, 2011, mass shooting, who contributed more than $20,000. As a trauma surgeon, Friese treated then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of that attack.
For comparison, in the second quarter of 2019, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s campaign for the same seat reported raising about $252,000, less than half of Friese’s reported total. Kirkpatrick holds the seat now but has announced she will leave office after this term.
