When it comes to fundraising, Roy Barnes is still king.

Campaign disclosure forms, due at midnight Thursday, show that Democratic front-runner Barnes had far more campaign contributions than any of the 13 other major party candidates running for governor.

The quarter, which ended June 30, included the months of April, May and June.

Barnes pulled in nearly $1.3 million last quarter, bringing his total contributions to nearly $5 million.

Republican John Oxendine came in a distant second. The insurance commissioner brought in about $869,550 in the quarter to bring his total contributions to $3.1 million.

Gainesville’s Nathan Deal was the Republican with the second most contributions in the quarter, $539,077.

Thurbert Baker was the runner-up for the Democrats with $545,201.

Candidates likely will spend a good portion of their war chests on TV advertising in the remaining days leading up to the July 20 primary.

Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, said that television ads, though expensive, are an effective way for candidates to get their messages to voters.

“It’s important for the candidates to get their name out, hope the voters will recognize it and if the voter recognizes your name, it increases the likelihood that they’ll vote for you,” Bullock said. “Essentially what these people are trying to do is buy name recognition. And then beyond that they’ll give you a bit of a message ... a few buzzwords, items, images.”

All of the major candidates are running television ads, but those with the most money have been able to purchase more aggressively.

There is quite a bit of discrepancy when it comes to candidate spending. Candidates have chosen different strategies on how to deploy their funds.

Barnes already has spent $3.7 million, leaving him with $1.15 million on hand. The frugal Oxendine still has $1.8 million in the bank.

Barnes has been running a barrage of ads announcing his platform. The former governor has so far spent nearly 70 percent of his funds on advertising to reclaim his old job.

Oxendine has spent $2.1 million so far, less than half on media buys.

Behind Oxendine, the leading Republicans have chosen to distribute their money similarly.

Deal has spent $1,936,014 followed by Eric Johnson with $1,773,410 and Karen Handel with $1,091,576.

All three have more than $600,000 left on hand.

Attorney General Baker has spent $1,493,083 thus far and has $430,862 in the bank. Democrats DuBose Porter and David Poythress trail their opponents. Porter has just $101,303 left after spending $344,978 and Poythress has $306,279 reserved after his $696,503 campaign expenditures.

Though money can’t always buy votes, as Barnes knows all too well. In 2002, he had raised a whopping $20 million compared to Republican Sonny Perdue’s $3.65 million, yet he was defeated in the general election.

Bullock said most candidates roll out their TV ads in the month or so before the election, which can be at a detriment to all.

“They say I’ll wait and spend my money right before the election,” Bullock said. “But that’s when everybody else is, so there’s a lot more clutter. It’s going to make it harder for you to get your message to connect with a voter.”

Early voting also presents a challenge for candidates with limited advertising budgets.

“People have already been voting for a couple of weeks,” Bullock said. “For some voters, you start running your commercial and for them it’s too late because they’ve already been to the polls.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report