Well-funded Poliquin campaign releases first ad

After raising more than $121,000 in the first three months of 2014, former state Treasurer Bruce Poliquin has released his campaign’s first television ad, a biographical spot designed to introduce the candidate to voters in Maine’s northern congressional district.

The one-minute ad highlights Poliquin’s roots in Oakland, his scholarship-funded education at Harvard, and his early days working in the investment world.

Unlike his previous campaigns for governor in 2010 and U.S. Senate in 2012, the video shows that Poliquin is now embracing his personal life story. Namely, the tragic death of his young wife and his subsequent role as a single parent.

The video also doesn’t shy away from Poliquin’s connection to Wall St., something the candidate’s opponents have attacked him for in the past.

The release of the ad coincides with the release of campaign finance reports for the first quarter of 2014.

Earlier this week, Poliquin’s primary opponent, former state Senate President Kevin Raye of Eastport, said in a press release that his campaign had raised $82,000 over the last three months. Poliquin, in comparison, raised $140,000 during the same period.

With roughly $341,000 cash on hand to Raye’s $202,000, Poliquin is easily the best funded candidate in the race — a fact Raye’s campaign attributes to Poliquin’s personal investment. But even if you subtract Poliquin’s own contribution of $112,674, his fundraising total still tops Raye’s by $98,000. In a vast district that is difficult to cover in person, campaign contributions will help fuel the t.v. and internet ad war for name recognition and, ultimately, votes.

The finance reports do provide a great talking point for Raye’s campaign, though, when considering where donations come from. In its Wednesday press release, the Raye campaign said it has received donations from 197 Second District residents, while Poliquin has received only 47.

The carpet-bagger attack line may grow legs, especially if northern Maine voters cannot fully identify with someone like Poliquin, but as one campaign hand told me, television stations don’t care where the money comes from.

Here’s Poliquin’s first ad spot: