In Maricopa County Attorney money race, Richard brings up the rear

Gerald Richard: Campaign photoGerald Richard ended the first half of the year with just over $40,000 on hand, lagging far behind his primary rival Tim Nelson and incumbent Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

However, Thomas had the weakest quarter of the three. He managed a relatively slim $39,750.03 for the period from January 1 through May 31, while Richard pulled in $60,004.75. Despite his poorer showing, Thomas is still the leader in the field. He came into the reporting period with over $200k, and has $213,599.12 on hand to start June.

The big winner this quarter was Tim Nelson, who pulled in nearly $207k from April to the end of June. With no money to start with, he has now come within $37k of Thomas's total, finishing May with $177,463.03.

"These numbers are so weak, they all but announce the chum is in the shark pool," said Joshua Kilroy, Nelson's campaign manager, of Tim Nelson's fundraising.

Doug Ramsey, Richard's campaign spokesman, said doesn't think the discrepancy is a cause for concern.

"We're going ahead with the plan we had when we started the campaign," he told PolitickerAZ.com. The Richard campaign has said it doesn't expect to be able to outraise Nelson, but will have enough to run a "credible campaign."

CLARIFICATION: Tim Nelson campaign manager Joshua Kilroy has clarified that his remark "the chum is in the shark pool" was made in reference to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas's fundraising numbers, not Gerald Richard's as originally reported.