Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - With more than four months left until Election Day, Ann Marie Buerkle has stepped up her fundraising efforts.
In documents filed this week with the Federal Elections Commission, the Republican Congresswoman outraised Democratic challenger Dan Maffei by a nearly 2 to 1 margin for the period of April 1 through June 6.
Buerkle reported raising $264,686.33 during the period, while Maffei raised $140,615.75.
Buerkle crossed the million-dollar mark in the total amount of money raised since the start of the race. Maffei stands at more than $860,000 raised.
The candidates are virtually tied in the amount of money they have on hand to run their campaigns. Buerkle has about $695,000, while Maffei has about $670,000 in the bank.
Money is an important, and often deciding, factor in races because of the need to blanket the area with advertising and to pay for an extensive on-the-ground campaign.
Buerkle won her Syracuse-area seat in Congress two years ago in a race against then-incumbent Maffei that was so close it was more than a week after Election Day that the race was decided by the count of absentee ballots and the recounting of votes cast at polling places.
