Lazio's Campaign Coffer Surpasses Mrs. Clinton's

Lazio's Campaign Coffer Surpasses Mrs. Clinton's

Representative Rick A. Lazio has surpassed Hillary Rodham Clinton in fund-raising, according to unofficial figures released by the campaigns today, a feat accomplished after just four months as the Republican Senate nominee and as the camps enter the crucial last month of the race.

Mr. Lazio raised about four times as much money as his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the last month and now has nearly three times as much money on hand, according to figures released by the campaigns in advance of official filings with the Federal Election Commission next week.

In a race well on its way to becoming the most expensive United States Senate contest in history, Mr. Lazio has benefited from assiduous fund- raising that tapped into the fervor of many in his party to defeat Mrs. Clinton. The news comes as Mrs. Clinton has edged ahead of Mr. Lazio in the polls, and Mr. Lazio said he would use his financial advantage to show television commercials aimed at improving his standing.

Neither side would reveal the total it had collected. Mr. Lazio’s campaign said today that it had raised $10.7 million in the last five weeks, and, based on what he reported earlier this month, that would bring his total to nearly $30 million. After expenses, mostly devoted to advertising, Mr. Lazio said, his campaign now has $6.2 million on hand.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said today that she had raised $2.6 million in the last month, bringing her total fund-raising, after more than a year in the race, to $24.5 million, taking into account her previous disclosures. After expenses, also largely on advertising, she now has $2.5 million on hand, continuing her pattern of spending money almost as fast as she raises it.

"This strong filing makes it clear that we will exceed the fund-raising goals we set over a year ago," said Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign, "and ensures that our campaign will have the resources it needs to get Hillary’s positive, issue-oriented message out to every New Yorker."

She said Mr. Lazio’s advantage in cash on hand prompted his recent move to take Mrs. Clinton up on an offer to bar soft money — unregulated, unlimited contributions to political parties from corporations and wealthy individuals. The agreement took effect this week, though Mrs. Clinton has continued to raise soft money for other races and Mr. Lazio is a sponsor of a soft-money fund- raiser in October aimed at "party building." By contrast, the funds that the candidates’ campaigns have raised are considered hard money.

Mr. Lazio denied the charges from the Clinton campaign and said his monetary advantage came from people drawn to his campaign. Neither campaign revealed what percentage of its funds came from out of state; both candidates have held several fund-raisers outside New York.

"We have been demonstrating enormous grass-roots support," Mr. Lazio said, adding that some contributions have been as small as $2. Individual contributors are limited to hard-money donations of $1,000 for a general election and $1,000 for a primary.

Mr. Lazio, speaking to reporters after greeting shoppers at a mall here, at first joked, "That’s what I’m wondering," when asked how he had spent the money he had raised. "Obviously, advertising. Television advertising is incredibly expensive but we have had to have it to cut through a message and try to have some parity."

Mr. Lazio said he could not say whether some of that spending included buying television advertising for October or if it went to commercials that had already aired. Mr. Lazio said he must take to the air aggressively to counter the first lady’s similarly ambitious television campaign.

Mr. Lazio has often portrayed himself as the underdog, and said he would continue to do so despite his financial edge because "I think in terms of the fact that we have been so badly outspent by soft money."

Mr. Lazio’s camp released the figures today ahead of his appearance Sunday on NBC’s "Meet the Press" and the start of what it says will be a campaign surge over the next month.

Mr. Lazio later went on to Buffalo to greet people at a strip mall, concluding a three-day swing by bus and plane across upstate New York.

Earlier, Mr. Lazio invited his staff members, local politicians and reporters traveling with him to lunch at a Greek restaurant near Utica and, while not quite a turn on "Oprah," he did let his guard down a bit, speaking of restless nights caused by campaign anxiety.

"Sometimes I wake up, I stay awake," Mr. Lazio said. "Ordinarily, I’d wake up and fall back to sleep. Now I immediately start thinking of things I need to do. If I wake up, it’s difficult for me to get back to sleep."

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