By Jim Larkin
Pre-primary financial reports show U.S. Congressional candidate Trevor Thomas is attracting more donations than his opponent Steve Pestka, but that Pestka's deeper pockets will enable him to outspend his openly gay foe.
And that has Thomas urging his supporters, in an email video sent out July 30 – just 8 days before the Aug. 7 primary – to help him reach all registered primary voters by making phone calls either from their home or his Grand Rapids office. He called those calls "critical" and directed those willing to make them to call 616-235-2012.
"I really believe we're going to come within 100 votes in the primary," Thomas said in the video. "Every little bit helps."
Pre-primary reports filed on July 26 showed Thomas had raised $107,867 more than Pestka has from individual contributors, but that Pestka more than made up that large margin by attracting more political action committee funds and giving more out of his own pocket.
Pestka received $34,550 in PAC dollars compared to $5,000 by Thomas. He also contributed $20,269 himself and made a $570,000 loan. Thomas loaned his committee $7,012 and has not listed any loans.
So that left Pestka with $451,591 to spend to Thomas's $86,170 as of July 26.
Pestka, who began running ads on July 12, has outspent Thomas by about $140,000 heading into the final days of the election.
Still, Thomas called his total contributions – $293,582 to $228,522 for Pestka as of the July 26 filing – record-breaking primary efforts for a Democrat in West Michigan.
"I'm fighting for a woman's right to choose, fighting for our seniors, and fighting for our middle class, and I'm waging that fight with the support of over 2,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than $100 each," Thomas said in a press release. "Democrats need a candidate who will work hard to win over voters in the fall and our fundraising effort … shows I'm the only candidate in this primary who will do that."
