Since our previous post about J.D. Hayworth's "Million Dollar March," the Hayworth campaign got back to us, saying all the money the campaign claims it received during the campaign is in-hand -- and not just a collection of pledges with no financial backing.
"We have raised over $1 million in checks, cash, and credit cards. There are no pledges included in any of our amounts," Hayworth campaign manager David Payne tells New Times. "This will all be reflected in our 1st quarter report."
The McCain campaign suggested that Hayworth's campaign was including pledges in its numbers because of the huge amount of last-minute donations made late last night.
Hayworth's campaign aimed to raise the million during March, and last night, as the month was coming to an end, the effort was about $100K short.
This morning, Hayworth put out a press release claiming the campaign had achieved its million-dollar goal.
"U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth today thanked supporters across the state and the nation for helping his campaign exceed $1 million in contributions and sending a strong message to the Washington establishment during the 'Million Dollar March,'" the campaign claimed.
We find out now that was only kinda-sorta true.
As the name of the campaign suggests, the money raised should have been generated in the actual month of March.
Hayworth, however, is including money raised in February, which puts the amount raised to above a million dollars. The money raised during the actual "Million Dollar March" campaign only totals about $936,000.
"It seems that April 1 has become an early Halloween for McCain's desperate efforts. He may have tricked some members of the press, but the treat belongs to our campaign," Payne says.
