District 48 State House of Representatives candidate Beau Beaullieu, right, reported having $126,926 in campaign funds remaining heading into the final push before the Oct. 12 election. Candidates for the various races in the Teche Area reported their campaign finance numbers this week.

With less than a month left before the Oct. 12 elections, candidates are jockeying for position and preparing for the final push before balloting day.

A lot of that push — whether it be through signage, print and online ads, or radio and television buys — costs money. But based on the latest campaign finance numbers reported this week, there are a few candidates with plenty of money to help get their message across to voters in the coming days, while most are making decisions day-to-day after having spent most of their campaign funds already.

The four candidates for the state District 48 House seat term-limited former Speaker of the House Taylor Barras left vacant is proving to be one of the richest races. Contender Beau Beaullieu started his fundraising early, raising a whopping $127,961 in 2018. Since Jan.1, he has raised another $53,050, leaving him with $126,926 heading into the last days of the campaign.

Iberia Parish District 8 Councilman Ricky Gonsoulin still has $75,315 in his account, but he also made $85,000 in loans to his campaign. Since Jan. 1 he has raised $45,100, the bulk of which — $43,300 — went toward paying off those loans.

Dana Dugas, Iberia Parish School Board president and also a candidate in District 48, has raised $16,130 so far, but has also spent all but $523 of that amount.

David Levy, the fourth candidate and the only Democrat in the race, has supported his campaign with $21,000 in his own funds.

Beaullieu, though, was not the only candidate who started fundraising early. In the Iberia Parish sheriff’s race, candidate Thomas “Tommy” Romero started his fundraising last year and walked into the current reporting period with more than $127,000 already in his war chest — then raised another $86,000 between January and September of this year. Even after spending more than $90,000 so far, he still has $121,277 on hand for the final month.

His closest rival in fundraising, Roberta Boudreaux, raised $47,600 in contributions, but has spent all but $556 of that so far. Candidates Fernest “Pac-Man” Martin and Murphy Meyers have raised more than $12,000 apiece, with Martin holding a slight edge at $12,460 to Meyers’ $12,150. Meyers, however, loaned his campaign $,9,050, so he still has $4,219 on hand. Martin received two anonymous donations listed as “other receipts” for $1,460, so he still has almost $6,000 to spend in the last month.

The other two candidates, Joe LeBlanc and Clinton “Bubba” Sweeney, have each raised less than $3,000. LeBlanc reported he still has $750 on hand, while Sweeney reported a zero balance in his campaign coffers.

The race for the Iberia Parish Clerk of Court’s seat was thrown into disarray when former clerk Michael Thibodeaux was convicted in state court on 14 felony counts in May. David Ditch was sworn in as the new clerk and he, along with Ryan Huval, who served as deputy clerk under Thibodeaux until late 2015, are now seeking the office.

Ditch reported raising $47,205 in cash, as well as $3,360 in in-kind donations. He also loaned his campaign $8,900, leaving him with $26,276 on hand.

Huval rised $24,075 in cash donations along with $2,775 in in-kind donations. According to his campaign finance report, his campaign is $2,066 in the red as the closing month gets underway.

Perhaps the most lopsided race from a campaign finance perspective is the Iberia Parish president’s race. Incumbent Larry Richard raised $63,069 so far in 2019, but he carried over $58,049 on hand from his previous campaign efforts. Although he has spent more than $74,000 so far, he still has $41,809 on hand.

Challenger Ronnie Miguez, according to his report, has raised a single donation for $100. So far, his report said he has spent $9,386, leaving his campaign with a negative balance of $9,286.

As of Thursday afternoon, Iberia Parish District 9 Councilman and parish president candidate Joel Dugas has not filed his campaign finance report, which was due on Sept. 12, 30 days prior to election day.