Contributions Update

When I made my original post about the recently disclosed financial contributions to candidates for statewide constitutional offices in 2006, I noted:

Christian Coalition leader and Republican Lt. Governor candidate Ralph Reed's disclosure information is not listed there. Neither is Democratic Secretary of State candidate Shyam Reddy's information. Maybe they didn't file electronically? I really would like to know the answer.

Well, the answer seems to be a lot simpler than I had thought; they just hadn't been posted on the Secretary of State's Disclosure Reports page. Well, here are the results for those two candidates:

Ralph Reed (R) - $1,379,045.21
Shyam Reddy (D) - $143,806.19

Now, both these numbers are particularly impressive. In regards to Reed, the AJC reports:

Meanwhile, Republican lieutenant governor hopeful Ralph Reed, former leader of the Christian Coalition, reported collecting $1.4 million during the period, doubling the total of his GOP rival, state Sen. Casey Cagle (R-Gainesville). Reed has continued raising money despite a steady stream of news reports and documents from U.S. Senate hearings that put him at the edge of a Washington scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with Indian tribal clients. Reed has not been accused of wrongdoing.

As for Reddy, he raised double what fellow Democratic challengers Angela Moore and Carol Jackson did, combined. Not bad for a 1st-generation Indian-American community activist who has never held public office.