Follow the Money

In my efforts to better gauge support on the ground in Super Tuesday states I have raided CNN's handy-dandy campaign contribution maps to find the leader in donations for each party in each state. Note: these numbers reflect last year's contributions only. No momentum from the early races here. Thus, Huckabee has no money. Also, just because they raised a lot in a given state doesn't mean they are spending it there. A lot of this money has gone into the contests already finished. What fundraising does demonstrate is some sort of local organization (with the exception of the internet based Paul campaign).

Without further ado here's the list of the states each candidate leads the money race in:

Democrats:

Clinton: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Oklahoma

Obama: Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Dakota, Tennessee and Utah

Edwards: Alabama

Republicans:

Romney: California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Utah

Giuliani: Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, West Virginia

McCain: Arizona, Minnnesota

Huckabee: Arkansas

Paul: North Dakota

The Democratic side is fairly predictable and not all that surprising. The Republican side is worth paying attention to. McCain has all the momentum but does not have much money in the bank. Huckabee had almost no ground game in these states (most of his numbers are under $10,000). It will be interesting to see if he has been able to catch up in a month. Giuliani is nowhere in the polls but has more money than McCain and Huckabee combined. Politically, Giuliani may be forced out after Florida. Economically, he can live to fight another week. Unlike the rest of the candidates, Giuliani spent a relatively small amount in the early states leaving him lots of money for Super Tuesday. This was Giuliani's strategy.