(The Center Square) – The financial news continues to get worse for Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.
On Monday, Rodriguez said she fired her campaign manager after discovering “inaccurate and incomplete campaign finance reports.”
Rodriguez’s campaign initially said it had raised more than $1 million, but on Monday said she only had about $200,000 on hand.
On Wednesday, Rodriguez’s latest campaign finance report showed she currently has just $34,000 cash on hand, and $152,000 in campaign debt.
It is still not clear if Rodriguez ever had $1 million. Her Wednesday report stated that in the first six months of 2026 she raised $561,817.
That puts her near the back of the crowded pack of Democrats running in next month’s primary for governor.
Mandela Barnes raised the most at $841,358. Primary frontrunner Francesca Hong raised $708,884, while Joel Brennan finished the first six months in third place in fundraising with $665,627.
After Rodriguez, State Sen. Kelda Roys rounded out the Democrat field with $527,432 raised.
By comparison, Republican candidate Tom Tiffany on Wednesday reported that he raised $8 million during the first six months of the year.
But the fundraising totals are only half the story. While Rodriguez raised the fourth most money, she has the least cash.
Hong’s campaign reported $410,000 on hand, while Roys’ campaign said it has $406,000. Joel Brennan’s campaign has $350,000 on hand, and David Crowley who dropped out of the race, has $315,000. Barnes’ campaign said it has $204,000 cash on hand, compared to Rodriguez’s $34,000.
Rodriguez has not yet explained why her initial campaign finances numbers were so wrong.
A review of her campaign finance report from January showed a number of double donations. In those cases, donations were listed twice, often with minor changes to the donor’s name or address.
Rodriguez has not said whether those double donations were mistakes or intentional. She has also not spoken about her campaign expenses.
Wednesday’s report showed that Rodriguez spent $42,000 on “crisis communication.” The report also shows that Rodriguez owes $152,000 in campaign debts, including just under $10,000 in debts to the state of Wisconsin.
