State Rep. Wes Kitchens, R-Arab, has spent more than $212,000, as of late December, on his special election bid for state Senate District 9.
Fellow House member Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, has spent about $90,300, as of his latest campaign finance report.
Both men have had media buys in the north Alabama district that includes all of Marshall County, northern Blount County and southeast Madison County.
The special primary to replace Sen. Clay Scofield, who left the Senate in November to join the Business Council of Alabama, is Tuesday.
As of this week’s campaign finance reports, Colvin had $56,623 on hand; Kitchens had nearly $25,000.
Kitchens in November transferred $115,000 from his previous House campaign fund to his Senate fund. In late December, he loaned his campaign $50,000.
“Special elections are about voter turnout,” Kitchens told Alabama Daily News. “That’s been our focus, and we actually expect the number of voters in all three counties to be higher than normal, and that’s going to be good for us.
Colvin also transferred about $47,800 from his House campaign fund.
“I’m proud of the grassroots campaign we have run,” Colvin told Alabama Daily News on Thursday. “We have already knocked on over 5,000 doors, and as we continue spreading our positive, conservative message across District 9, I feel like we have the best sense of what is on the hearts and minds of the voters of District 9.
“I am proud that almost 90% of all the money we have raised has come from right here in North Alabama. We have worked hard and will continue to work hard in the closing days of this campaign.”
Republican Stacy Lee George, a former Morgan County Commission member and Alabama Department of Corrections employee, has spent nearly $17,000 on the race and had nearly $3,000 on hand at the end of December.
There is no Democrat in the race.
A primary runoff, if needed, is Feb. 6, the first day of the legislative session. The special general election is April 23.
The traditional “legislative blackout period,” those election-year months during the legislative session when sitting state lawmakers can’t collect campaign donations, does not apply in special elections.
Candidates have 120 days after an election to continue raising funds to clear any campaign debts they have, including loans they’ve made to their campaigns.