Fischer hopes to boost Boswell camp as volunteer finance chair

Former U.S. Sen. Candidate Greg Fischer (D-Louisville) will stay involved in Kentucky politics through the general election after all, following his announcement yesterday that he will serve as volunteer finance chair for state Senator David Boswell's (D-Owensboro) bid for the open 2nd Congressional District seat.

"David and I were doing a lot of campaigning in the same places during the Senate race," Fischer told PolitickerKY.com. "He has a great reputation and is a stand-up guy."Senate candidate Greg Fischer (D-Louisville): PolitickerKy.com photo

Fischer comes on board after Boswell has struggled in his fundraising battle against opponent and state Senator Brett Guthrie (R-Bowling Green).

At the close of the second fundraising quarter on June 30, Boswell had just $45,000 in cash on-hand compared to $661,000 for Guthrie.

Boswell was also outraised by his Democratic primary rival, Daviess County Judge/Executive Reid Haire (D-Owensboro).

Fischer, meanwhile, had some fundraising success in his own Democratic primary effort this year. His campaign rallied more contributions than that of the eventual Senate nominee, Louisville businessman Bruce Lunsford, with Fischer collecting over $800,000 in funds.

Now, Fischer hopes to bolster the coffers in Boswell's camp.

"The wonderful thing about [Boswell] is he's a candidate who is extremely well-received. He just needs to get some more help," said Fischer. "We plan on being successful."

The only public polling of the open seat race showed Boswell with a slight 3 percent lead over Guthrie , though the Republican's campaign denounced those early July numbers as having "no credibility."

Despite this polling lead, Boswell's efforts have been left out of targeted ad buys by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Owensboro state Senator's bid was not included on the latest update of the DCCC's "Red-to-Blue" list - a series of Republican-held districts targeted by the organization as vulnerable.

The 2nd District is open after current incumbent U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis (R-Cecilia) announced he was retiring from the office he has held since 1994.

Some analysts have pointed to Boswell's financial state as a major vulnerability - a state that may be keeping national Democrats away.

"Our focus is on Kentucky," said Fischer when asked about national interests." If they want to get involved, that is something we would consider."

Fischer said his efforts for Boswell would still touch on both national and Kentucky-based fundraising targets, with some new fundraising events to be announced in "the next week or two."

Fischer's first bid for elected office ended on May 20 of this year, when he finished second in the seven candidate Democratic Senate primary field to Lunsford, after a contentious campaign that found Fischer campaigning across the state.

Fischer then appeared with Lunsford at a May 23 "unity event" in Frankfort, and the two Democrats praised each other. Fischer says he has since spoken out on Lunsford's behalf at several events throughout the state.