Wilson's campaign raises the most cash

The Democratic write-in candidate has raised close to $1 million.
State Sen. Charlie Wilson's congressional campaign received $44,100, primarily from political action committees, during the last 10 days to help in his effort to win Tuesday's Democratic primary.
The influx of money before the primary to Wilson's campaign includes $5,000 from the National Leadership PAC, run by U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York; $5,000 from DASH PAC, run by former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle; and $3,000 from PAC to the Future, a PAC operated by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Also, the Belmont County Democratic Party gave $1,000 to Wilson's campaign.
Congressional candidates must file financial disclosure reports of contributions of at least $1,000 with the Federal Election Commission no later than 48 hours after receiving them during the final days leading to Tuesday's primary.
The amount raised by Wilson, of St. Clairsville, in the past 10 days is greater than the money collected by the six other candidates -- two Democrats and four Republicans -- in the 6th Congressional District race combined. Overall, Wilson has raised more money than the six other candidates combined.
With the $44,100 collected, Wilson's campaign has raised $922,529, including $507,500 from the candidate himself. Wilson's contributions amount to 55 percent of the total money raised by his campaign.
What happened
Wilson, a multimillionaire, failed to obtain the required 50 valid signatures needed to get his name on Tuesday's ballot. Wilson and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which supports his candidacy, therefore, are waging an expensive advertising campaign to educate voters how to write in his name on ballots.
National Republicans have targeted the 6th District that includes Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning County as its top priority in the country among U.S. House seats currently held by Democrats. U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, a Lisbon Democrat, chose to run for governor rather than seek re-election.
The two Democrats whose names will appear on the ballot -- Bob Carr of Wellsville and John Stephen Luchansky of Boardman -- haven't raised the $5,000 minimum amount that requires them to file campaign finance reports with the FEC.
GOP candidates
Among the Republican candidates, state Rep. Chuck Blasdel of East Liverpool raised the most during the past 10 days.
Blasdel's campaign collected $18,000 including $5,000 combined from Bruce Zoldan and his wife, Rori. Zoldan, of Canfield, president of B.J. Alan Co., a Youngstown fireworks company, is a frequent contributor to political campaigns.
Blasdel also received $5,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Timothy Ginter of East Liverpool, also running in the Republican primary, raised $3,415 during the past few days with $2,000 of it coming from the candidate. As of Friday, Ginter had raised $59,877 for his campaign, with $4,100 coming from him.
Noble County Commissioner Danny Harmon of Quaker City, a Republican candidate in the 6th District, gave $5,507 to his campaign in the last week. Overall, Harmon has raised $38,022, with $30,587 -- 80 percent -- coming from him.