CQPolitics.com - New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete V. Domenici is wasting no time putting retirement rumors to rest, staging his first major fundraiser for the 2008 election after months of asserting that he will run next year for a seventh Senate term.
Though the rumors largely focused on Domenici’s already lengthy tenure and his age — he will turn 75 on May 7 — they were buttressed by the fact that his campaign coffers were less than flush with cash as the 2007-08 campaign cycle started. The senator’s year-end campaign finance report indicated he had $261,000 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.
Domenici’s staff points out Tuesday’s event is not an official campaign kickoff and the senator has not yet filed a “declaration of candidacy” with the Federal Election Commission. But Domenici has been unequivocal regarding his re-election campaign prospects. “I am running,” Domenici told the Associated Press on Feb. 12.
He added that fundraising would not be a problem. “I just waited my turn. We’re reining in the money. If you go look in about three weeks and see how much we’ve done, I’ll have a few bushel baskets full in that short time,” he said.
The fundraiser, a reception at the Hotel Albuquerque scheduled for late afternoon Tuesday, was expected to raise just under $100,000 from about 300 attendees, said Domenici campaign Finance Director Heidi Fuller.
It is the senator’s largest fundraiser to date and the first event for this campaign cycle in Albuquerque, New Mexico’s major population center.
“In the past we’ve only raised enough just to really keep operations up ... Now we’re actually aggressively raising money,” Fuller said.
An official campaign announcement is expected for a later date. Fuller said she did not know when it would be made, but said that in the run-up to his past two contests, Domenici announced his candidacy early in the year of the election.
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070220/pl_cq_politics/newmexicosdomenicinowwieldsdollarsasproofofreelect ionintention [link] 
02-20-2007, 07:50 PM
