MADISON (AP) - Gov. Scott Walker raised about $7.4 million in his short-lived campaign for president and spent about $6.4 million before dropping out after 71 days in the race, campaign finance reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission showed.
Walker reported having less than $1 million cash on hand at the end of September, just over a week after he dropped out of the race. He reported owing about $161,000 as of Sept. 30, but the report does not show ongoing costs beyond that point that Walker will have to pay.
Walker left the race as fundraising could not keep up with the expenses of maintaining a campaign operation that grew to around 90 staff members located around the country. He decided to drop out rather than take on debt, or significantly scale back his operation, in the face of a steep decline in poll numbers in key early voting states.
Two of the people he paid to be on staff were his college-aged sons, Matt and Alex. They were paid about $1,500 a month, for a total of about $4,800 each, the filings showed. Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said they had part-time jobs at campaign headquarters and returned to school when fall semester started.
Walker paid his campaign manager Rick Wiley nearly $52,000 for three months of work, which equates to about $208,000 a year. His campaign communications director, Kirsten Kukowski, was paid roughly the same amount.
"There were a lot of different factors, obviously different candidates, different situations, different staff," Walker said on Wednesday when asked on WTMJ radio about reasons for his abrupt departure. "All of those things come. Instead of doing what a lot of candidates do and whine about this, that or whatever, for me I accept it for what it is."
Wiley said at the time he dropped out that the campaign faced about $800,000 in bills, with around $1 million to pay them, and Walker decided to drop out rather than go into debt as costs would eventually exceed donations.
Walker also said Wednesday he would not run for president again as a sitting governor, saying it's too difficult to do both. His current term, Walker's second, runs through 2018. He has not said whether he will seek a third term, or perhaps do something else in preparation for a future run for president.
The reports filed by all presidential candidates Thursday are for the third quarter of the year, the months of July through September. Walker officially entered the race in mid-July, although he had been traveling the country extensively the first six months of the year. He dropped out of the race Sept. 21.
Walker's fundraising was solid and on par with other Republicans who remain in the presidential race. Carly Fiorina reported raising $6.8 million during the period, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio brought in $6 million. But Ben Carson raised $20 million, Jeb Bush brought in $13.4 million and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reported hauling in $12.2 million.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Rodham Clinton raised $28 million and Vermont
Sen. Bernie Sanders collected $26 million.
Evenson issued a written statement saying Walker was thankful to the tens of thousands of supporters who gave to his campaign.
"While the outcome is obviously not what we had hoped for, the fact that 92 percent of the contributions Governor Walker received were for $100 or less reflects strong grassroots support for his vision of taking the power out of Washington and returning it to the people," Evenson said.
Walker has promised to pay back travel costs for the taxpayer-funded security detail that traveled with him as he campaigned for president. Evenson said all costs that had been billed to date were paid.
Walker's administration said last week that $67,000 in security costs remained unpaid.
Some of Walker's $161,000 in unpaid bills through the end of September included $76,000 for online advertising, $10,000 for communications consulting and $44,000 for event staging costs. He also reported owing $10,471 to the Waukesha County Expo Center, where he launched the campaign with a rally.
Walker reported having less than $1 million cash on hand at the end of September, just over a week after he dropped out of the race. He reported owing about $161,000 as of Sept. 30, but the report does not show ongoing costs beyond that point that Walker will have to pay.
Walker left the race as fundraising could not keep up with the expenses of maintaining a campaign operation that grew to around 90 staff members located around the country. He decided to drop out rather than take on debt, or significantly scale back his operation, in the face of a steep decline in poll numbers in key early voting states.
Two of the people he paid to be on staff were his college-aged sons, Matt and Alex. They were paid about $1,500 a month, for a total of about $4,800 each, the filings showed. Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said they had part-time jobs at campaign headquarters and returned to school when fall semester started.
Walker paid his campaign manager Rick Wiley nearly $52,000 for three months of work, which equates to about $208,000 a year. His campaign communications director, Kirsten Kukowski, was paid roughly the same amount.
"There were a lot of different factors, obviously different candidates, different situations, different staff," Walker said on Wednesday when asked on WTMJ radio about reasons for his abrupt departure. "All of those things come. Instead of doing what a lot of candidates do and whine about this, that or whatever, for me I accept it for what it is."
Wiley said at the time he dropped out that the campaign faced about $800,000 in bills, with around $1 million to pay them, and Walker decided to drop out rather than go into debt as costs would eventually exceed donations.
Walker also said Wednesday he would not run for president again as a sitting governor, saying it's too difficult to do both. His current term, Walker's second, runs through 2018. He has not said whether he will seek a third term, or perhaps do something else in preparation for a future run for president.
The reports filed by all presidential candidates Thursday are for the third quarter of the year, the months of July through September. Walker officially entered the race in mid-July, although he had been traveling the country extensively the first six months of the year. He dropped out of the race Sept. 21.
Walker's fundraising was solid and on par with other Republicans who remain in the presidential race. Carly Fiorina reported raising $6.8 million during the period, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio brought in $6 million. But Ben Carson raised $20 million, Jeb Bush brought in $13.4 million and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reported hauling in $12.2 million.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Rodham Clinton raised $28 million and Vermont
Sen. Bernie Sanders collected $26 million.
Evenson issued a written statement saying Walker was thankful to the tens of thousands of supporters who gave to his campaign.
"While the outcome is obviously not what we had hoped for, the fact that 92 percent of the contributions Governor Walker received were for $100 or less reflects strong grassroots support for his vision of taking the power out of Washington and returning it to the people," Evenson said.
Walker has promised to pay back travel costs for the taxpayer-funded security detail that traveled with him as he campaigned for president. Evenson said all costs that had been billed to date were paid.
Walker's administration said last week that $67,000 in security costs remained unpaid.
Some of Walker's $161,000 in unpaid bills through the end of September included $76,000 for online advertising, $10,000 for communications consulting and $44,000 for event staging costs. He also reported owing $10,471 to the Waukesha County Expo Center, where he launched the campaign with a rally.