Visconti falters in fundraising

Republican congressional candidate Joe Visconti failed to raise anywhere near the money that serious challengers typically rake in by mid-summer.
His campaign treasurer wrote on July 9 to the Federal Election Commission that Visconti, a West Hartford businessman aiming to unseat U.S. Rep. John Larson, had neither raised nor spent $5,000 yet.
If he had met that minimum threshold, Visconti would have been required to file a more detailed report that listed his donors and spending.
Larson, an East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol, had raised more than $700,000 by April. He had $232,00 of that money still available in April.
In three of Connecticut's five congressional districts, challengers taking on incumbents have raised at least $319,000 so far.
Only U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a New Haven Democrat, is facing s easy a challenger as Larson. Her Republican challenger in the 3rd District, Bo Itshaky, has also reported no money to the FEC yet.
Most of Larson's contributions came from political action committees, with the insurance industry giving him about $1 out of every $9 he raised, according to a breakdown on opensecrets.org, which analyzes federal campaign filings.
A third party challenger, Stephen Fournier, also raised less than $5,000.

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