HELENA — The latest Federal Election Commission fundraising reports show two Republican candidates for the Montana’s U.S. House seat have made large personal loans to their campaign coffers.
State Sen. Matt Rosendale of Glendive has made a $500,000 loan to his campaign, bringing his personal campaign loan total to $1 million, while former state Sen. Corey Stapleton of Billings loaned $200,000 to his campaign. It is his first campaign loan.
Both candidates made the loans between April 1 and May 14.
State Sen. Ryan Zinke of Whitefish still leads the Republicans candidates in campaign fundraising with a total of $1.2 million. He has not made loans to his campaign.
Rosendale’s total fundraising is at $1.17 million, including his personal loans. Stapleton has raised total of about $616,000 including his loan and a $20,000 personal contribution.
As of Friday afternoon, The Associated Press had not received reports for Republican candidates state Sen. Elsie Arntzen of Billings and Drew Turiano of Helena.
Democratic candidate John Lewis of Helena has raised a total of about $755,000 with no personal loans or contributions. Former state Rep. John Driscoll, the other Democratic candidate, has not spent the $5,000 required for filing federal reports.
The amount of cash each candidate had on hand as of May 14 varied widely. Lewis topped the list with about $519,000, while Rosendale had about $151,000. Zinke had nearly $151,000 and Stapleton had nearly $59,000.
Rosendale, Stapleton, Zinke, Arntzen and Turiano are seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. House seat.
Lewis, a former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus aide, and Driscoll of Helena are competing in the Democratic primary.
The seat is being vacated by Republican Rep. Steve Daines, who is running for U.S. Senate.