Fundraising is part of the holy trinity of campaigning for public office and the seven candidates for Eugene Hahn's Assembly seat were part of a record $3.4 million legislative candidates raised statewide during the first half of 2008.

Candidates for Hahn's former 47th District seat collected $106,534.83 into their campaign funds from Jan. 1 to June 30. Fundraising is part of the nature of running for office, candidates said.

"It's doors, dollars and dinners," said Erich Ruth, a DeForest Village Board member and one of four Republicans on the ballot for the 47th District. "And I've hit a lot of doors."

According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Web site (www.wisdc.org), Ruth raised $4,628.21 through June. In addition to doors, Ruth also is covering bytes - he employs a contribution page on his Web site, www.ruthforassembly.org. The same is true for fellow Republicans Tim McCumber (www.timmccumber.com), Steven Pate (www.stevepateforassembly.com) and Keith Ripp (www.keithripp.com) in addition to the Democrats on the ballot, Trish O'Neil (www.trishforassembly.org) and Paul Fisk (www.paulfisk.org).

"We've got that (donation) button and over the course of the last almost year we sent out periodic fundraisers and letters and we got a good response," Fisk said.

Raising money is new for many of the candidates in the race, even those with political experience. Fisk never raised money running for Lodi mayor and neither did Pate when he ran for Portage School Board. Pate's campaign workers sent out letters for donations, which he is using for publicity materials.

"I had some folks send out some letters for me," Pate said. "The money is used to buy signs, mailers, fliers."

O'Neil, a former Columbus School Board president, said soliciting money in a tough economic climate has prompted her to use her own money for her campaign.

"I hate asking people for money. I don't like doing it and I've been reluctant," O'Neil said. "When people are having a hard time putting gas in their car, I'm not going to ask them to support a political campaign."

O'Neil is the top fundraiser among the seven 47th District candidates, raising $41,870.31 through June. Of that, she put in around $25,000 personally.

"The truth of the matter is I've used quite a lot of my own money. I know the economic times are tough for people and I don't like having to beg from people when times are tight," O'Neil said. "My husband and I made a personal decision to put our own money into it."

Ripp, a town of Dane supervisor and president of the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board, was the top fundraiser among Republicans, raising $18,815. Ripp said that in addition to fundraising events, donors have sought him out to contribute to his campaign.

"They like what I have to say and people have come out of the woodwork and helped us fundraising," Ripp said. "For some reason I guess we're doing things right."

Ripp, McCumber and Pate reported no donations from political action committees. Ruth reported receiving $500 from the Columbus political committee Friends of Jerry Derr.

Fisk reported receiving $983.53 from political action committees, including $500 from the Wisconsin Laborer's District Council and $83.53 from the Progressive Majority of Wisconsin.

O'Neil, a former registered nurse, reported $1,321.41 in political action committee funding from three sources: $500 from the Wisconsin Nurses Political Action Committee, $500 from the Service Employees International Union (of which she was a member when was in nursing) and $321.41 from the Progressive Majority of Wisconsin.

Independent Dennis Hruby, a former farmer and teacher who lives in the town of Dane, didn't report money from a political action committee.

Hruby is one of two legislative candidates statewide in the red on the fundraising report.

He raised $600 - made up of $500 from himself and a $100 donation - and already has spent $984 on campaigning, putting him $384 in the negative. Hruby said he spent money on a voter-registration list and other campaign materials such as a Web site (www.dennishruby.com).

"I gave myself a loan, to kick-start the campaign," Hruby said. "I'll get that back if there's anything to get back from."

Hruby said he is planning on more fundraising to alleviate the negative balance and that he is also is applying for public campaign financing.

The $106,534.83 collected by the seven 47th District candidates almost equals the top legislative fundraiser, Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, who raised $106,457. Her challenger, Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, D-Milwaukee, was second with $88,420.

Dan Kohl, a River Hills Democrat running for Wasserman's Assembly seat, was the top fundraiser among Assembly candidates with $53,000. Kohl is the nephew of U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Milwaukee.

Assembly Democrats, who are vying to retake control of the chamber this fall from Republicans, outraised their rivals, $1.4 million to $1 million, the report found.

The old legislative record for the first six months of an election year was $2.9 million, set in 2006, according to the report from government watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The 2008 total eclipsed that mark by 17 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

mcall@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3510