When Eric Johnson, a Republican candidate for governor, filed his latest disclosure report last week, he was proud of the fact that his campaign had brought in more than $685,000 during the months of January, February and March.

"Generous supporters from across the state continue to provide our campaign the resources we need to share our plans to put Georgia back to work directly with voters," Johnson said. "With this strong report and our first television ad airing in markets across the state, we've got the wind in our sails and the path to victory in front of us."

There was a similar sense of pride displayed by Doug MacGinnitie, a Republican candidate for secretary of state, when he reported the amount of money his campaign raised.

"We currently have almost $700,000 cash on hand," MacGinnitie said in an e-mail. "Just looking at primary funds, we have almost a 4-to-1 cash-on-hand advantage over our opponent."

What neither candidate mentioned was that the totals they were reporting did not all come from outside contributors. A large part of their campaign money came right out of their own pockets.

Johnson's first quarter total included a $250,000 loan he took out. When you subtract that loan, his contributions actually totaled $435,313.

MacGinnitie has made two loans to his campaign treasury so far: a $50,000 loan disclosed in his last June and a $430,000 loan disclosed in the year-end report for 2009. The $480,000 in loans comprises more than 60 percent of the $793,098 that MacGinnitie claims to have raised for his primary campaign against Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

The fundraising statements of Johnson and MacGinnitie drew some pointed responses from their opponents.

Tim Fleming, Kemp's campaign manager, said of MacGinnitie: "The reality is that his suspect loans and overhyped e-mails can't buy him love from Republican voters across Georgia. He has no grass-roots network statewide or any measurable support from local leaders."

Dan McLagan, the media spokesman for Republican candidate Karen Handel, complained about the Johnson report to Savannah Morning News reporter Larry Peterson: "Eric played you and everybody else. He posted his report so late because he didn't want you to know that he took a $250,000 loan. ... He raised basically the same as us."

McLagan's charges prompted this response from Johnson campaign spokesman Ben Fry: "To be lectured on transparency by a candidate who has yet to release her income tax returns, as Eric has done, is ridiculous."

McLagan's statement that Handel raised "basically the same" amount of money as Johnson isn't completely accurate. Handel reported $380,633 in outside contributions during the first quarter, which was still about $55,000 less than what Johnson raised.

Johnson and MacGinnitie are hardly alone in providing their own money for their election efforts. Other candidates are also self-financing their campaigns.

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, two Republicans in the governor's race, arranged lines of credit with Georgia banks in January that provided $250,000 in financial resources to each campaign.

The campaign of Republican Austin Scott has taken on $119,225 in debt, while Democratic candidate David Poythress took on $223,000 in campaign debt.

The ultimate example of self-financing comes from Ray Boyd, a Morgan County real estate businessman who announced he will run in the GOP primary for governor and promptly contributed $2 million of his own money to the campaign.

Candidates are more willing to self-finance this year for the simple reason that they have to. The recession has dried up the pool of political dollars that have normally come from such sources as lobbyists and business executives. The political fat cats are a lot skinnier this year.

A comparison with earlier campaign cycles shows a dramatic reduction in what candidates can raise from their contributors. At this point in the 2002 governor's race, Democratic incumbent Roy Barnes had raised nearly $10 million. At this point in the 2006 governor's race, Republican incumbent Sonny Perdue had raised more than $8.6 million.

By contrast, this year's leading fundraiser, Barnes, has only pulled in a shade more than $3.6 million.
It's obvious that the money just isn't there for many of the candidates. That's why they're reaching into their own pockets.

Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report. His column appears Wednesdays and on gainesvilletimes.com.