WASHINGTON — Last week, former Congressman Ed Case gave the impression that his fundraising in the latest quarter was competitive with rival Mazie Hirono‘s.

Now he says he “should have been more clear” when estimating his recent donations.

An analysis of campaign finance reports filed in Washington but not yet available online shows that Case badly trailed in fundraising in the first head-to-head quarter of the race for the Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination.

Case told reporters earlier this month that he had raised “about $240,000” since his announcement that he would be a candidate for the seat now held by Daniel Akaka.

But a copy of his campaign contributions report filed with the U.S. Senate Secretary in Washington shows that he raised almost $100,000 less than that in the quarter ending June 30.

Campaign finance records obtained by Civil Beat show Case took in $147,940 in donations in the three-month period ending June 30, while Hirono took in $281,268, nearly twice as much, during that time. Case made public his candidacy on April 10, but filed candidacy papers on March 21. Hirono announced her candidacy on May 19.

Hirono and Case have a history. She succeeded Case as the representative of Hawaii’s 2nd District in January 2007. Case gave up the seat to challenge Akaka in the 2006 Democratic primary. Hirono narrowly defeated Case in the 2002 Democratic primary for governor.

Case has raised $220,400 through this election cycle, according to the federal records. Hirono has raised $382,643. (Read more about Hirono’s report.)

Case has $206,422 on hand, while Hirono has $545,632.

Case said he is not daunted by Hirono’s fundraising performance in the last quarter.

“Nothing that occurred surprises me,” Case told Civil Beat. “She’s a sitting member of Congress. She could sleepwalk through her duties and raise a heck of a lot of money just by holding a fundraiser.”

Initial reports about fundraising for the Democratic Senate contest gave the impression that Case was very close to Hirono. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Case since announcing his candidacy, as did Civil Beat.

But it turns out the comparison wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Her number was for one quarter. His was for a longer period. Case treated his filing of a statement of candidacy as the announcement of his run for the Senate for fundraising reporting purposes, even though he went public on April 10.

“I publicly announced on April 10. But, officially, my candidacy began somewhere around March 20,” he told Civil Beat Wednesday. “You’re required to file a statement of candidacy, so I was formally a candidate in the latter part of March, and I raised money in the latter part of March.”

On July 14, Case text messaged Civil Beat about his fundraising efforts: “Report not pau and filed yet but since I announced we’ve raised about $240,000.”

“I should have been more clear and stated ‘since I became a candidate,'” Case told Civil Beat Wednesday about his July 14 text message.

As of July 20, the Federal Election Commission still hadn’t posted the reports, which Civil Beat obtained through the Senate Office of Public Records.

While a few of the same groups donated to both Case and Hirono — Richard Dahl of the James Campbell Co. and Lance Inouye of Ralph S. Inouye Co., for example — there was a notable difference in the amount each campaign received from political action committees.

Case’s latest campaign report shows he accepted one donation from a PAC: $1,000 from the Hawaiian Airlines PAC, which also gave $1,000 to Hirono.

On the other hand, Hirono accepted $99,000

Nearly all of the donations to Case’s campaign were from individuals rather than political committees. Just $1,000 came from such committees dozens of PACs.

Here’s a snapshot of contributions to the Case campaign from April 1 through June 30:

Government

  • Charles Salmon, former U.S. State Department staffer: $1,500
  • Lucy Richmond, former state Health Department employee: $300
  • Will Tom, lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission: $250
  • Darrell Villaruz, former congressional aide for Case: $250
  • Caleb Rowe, attorney for the state of Hawaii: $250

Construction, Developers, Contractors

  • Richard S. Towill, of Towill Tratec Inc., contractor: $5,000
  • Richard M. Towill, retired, former head of R.M. Towill, $5,000
  • Christine Camp, President and CEO of Avalon Development: $5,000
  • Robert Armstrong, founder of Armstrong Builders: $2,500
  • George Toyama, founder and president of General Trades and Services Construction: $2,500
  • Lance Inouye, president and CEO of Ralph S. Inouye Co., general contractor: $1,000
  • Patricia Cardosa, of Cardosa Construction, Inc.: $250
  • Steven Colon, president of the Hawaii division of Hunt Development Group: $300

Attorneys, Business Executives

  • Ben Yamamoto, vice president of PVT Land Co. landfill: $2,500
  • Gary Bowersox, president and CEO of GeoVision, Inc.: $500
  • David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises: $1,000
  • Bikram Choudhury, president of Bikram Yoga College of India: $1,000
  • Kevin Comcowich, Houston portfolio manager who rented a Kailua home to the Obamas: $5,000
  • James Cribley, attorney at Case, Lombardi & Petit: $300
  • Naomi Fine, CEO of Pro-Tec Data: $500
  • Brenda Foster, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai: $250
  • Jeffrey Hong, principal consultant for Microsoft: $1,000
  • Tareq Hoque, founder and president of Concentris Systems: $300
  • William Hughes, CEO of Bicara Ltd.: $1,000
  • William Jones, President of William Jones Insurance Company: $250
  • Michael Keeling, ESOP Associates: $500
  • Jeffrey Kissel, President and CEO of the Gas Company: $500
  • Leonard Leong, Royal Contracting Co. executive: $1,000
  • Timothy Male, vice president at the Maryland-based Defenders of Wildlife: $1,500
  • Dennis Mitsunaga, president of Mitsunaga and Associates: $2,500
  • Jon Myers, CEO of High Temp Physics: $500
  • Diane Plotts, corporate board member for Kamehameha Schools: $1,500
  • Frieda Takaki, CEO of CHART Rehabilitation of Hawaii: $500
  • Perry White, president of Planning Solutions Inc.: $250
  • Evonne Bjornen, owner of Bjornen’s Mac Nut Farm Vacation Rental: $500

Family

  • Steve Case, cousin: $5,000
  • Daniel Case, uncle: $2,500
  • Carol Case, aunt: $2,000
  • Stacey Case, cousin-in-law: $1,000

PACs

  • Hawaiian Airlines Political Action Committee: $1,000

From April to June, the Case campaign paid $3,250 for a website; $3,816 for services from CompleteCampaigns.com; $1,328 for a mass mailing; $1,013 on airfare to neighbor islands; $112 per month on a Honolulu storage unit and $425 for an entry fee into the Kailua Fourth of July Parade.

Case even made a donation with his campaign funds: $1,000 to the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

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