Texas-14 Update: Paul Outraises Peden; Peden's Political Director Endorses Alan Keyes

On Friday, Ron Paul lost the endorsement of the Galveston County Daily News (circ. 30,000) in his race for re-election. It wasn't a huge surprise for them to go for Chris Peden:

We can say without reservation that he is courageous and principled.

We can't say he is an effective representative of the district.

Paul makes it a point to cast no votes on government spending, even if those funds are going to be spent in his own district or in a neighboring district.

Neighboring congressmen return the favor.

Even when the GOP had a majority in Congress, it was clear that the district was being punished because of all those no votes. Since the Democrats won a majority, that punishment hasn't stopped.

The Victoria Advocate (circ. 40,000) already endorsed Peden, and his campaign is trumpeting both of the endorsements. (It's also, strangely, linking a recent criticism I wrote of the move to purge anti-war Republicans.) But Peden's latest FEC filing reveals that Paul's plea for fundraising has rocketed him past his challenger. Peden raised less than $20,000 since the start of February and has about $100,000 left to spend. Paul's raised nearly $500,000 this month and has nearly $300,000 left to spend.

Peden's disbursement report reveals where the cash is going:

– Nearly $3,900 to Houston-based Ignite Marketing for campaign materials

– About $8,000 for campaign signs

– Nearly $20,000 to DC political consultants at Marsh Copsey and Associates. (Marsh Copsey didn't end up producing anything for the campaign—the relationship ended without ads.)

– $679 to his 17-year old daughter Brittany for "contract labor"

Paul's disbursements are here: Most of his money is going into media and paying his staff, and as a result he's pummelling Peden on the airwaves. I wonder if the people taking Patrick Ruffini's advice are getting much for their cash.

A weird side note: Peden's political director Onzelo Markum (who's been paid around $2,700 this year) has encouraged TX-14 voters to mark their ballots for Peden and… Alan Keyes. A little bit of dissonance in the "mainstream Republican" pitch, I think. Markum has a cache of Peden videos up here, but he missed a campaign event where Paul was asked to debate Peden. Paul's response is here: