The first reporting period for Maine gubernatorial hopefuls has been completed, and candidates are required to file their financial disclosures by July 15th.  That hasn’t stopped a couple Blaine House hopefuls from releasing their information early, however.

Yesterday, Republican Bruce Poliquin sent an email to supporters, reporting that he had raised a total of $277,265 in the first reporting period of 2009. Poliquin’s total is slightly misleading, however, as $159,913 of that amount is a personal contribution from the candidate himself to his own campaign. He raised $117,351 from 449 donors for the rest of the total.  Still, he reports that he has $193,405 cash on hand, which is an impressive amount of money to be working with so early in the game. And let us not forget that self-funding is hardly new for many successful Maine politicians – Angus King, for example, self funded a great deal of his successful campaign in 1994.

Former Attorney General Steve Rowe (who, incidentally has horrible search engine optimization – his campaign website is currently listed seventh in google) also shined the light on his fundraising totals. In an email to his supporters, Rowe reported that he has raised $59,232.60 this quarter. His total is light compared to Poliquin’s, however Rowe has had only three weeks to work with at this point, so it is understandable that he didn’t raise as much as Poliquin, who announced much earlier.

The other heavy hitters in the race, namely Matt Jacobson and Les Otten, have yet to release their numbers, but Pine Tree Politics will be on top of the news when it comes.

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