Republican Michael Rulli raised four times the amount of money that Democrat Michael L. Kripchak collected between April 1 and May 22 and had close to five times as much cash in his fund for the special June 11 congressional election between the two.

That’s according to the latest campaign finance reports filed by the two 6th Congressional District candidates with the Federal Election Commission.

Rulli of Salem, serving his second four-year term in the state Senate, reported raising $68,924 to $17,036 for Kripchak of Youngstown in the prespecial election filing period between April 1 and May 22.

As of May 22, Rulli had $76,147 in his campaign fund compared to $14,681 for Kripchak, a U.S. Air Force graduate who served as an acquisitions officer and research scientist with the Air Force.

Rulli’s fund would have a deficit if he paid back $59,913 in campaign debt he accrued in the Republican primary and a $30,400 loan he gave his campaign on Dec. 15.

Rulli reduced his campaign debt after paying $17,500 on April 1 to Poolhouse Agency LLC of Richmond, Virginia, for polling it did during the GOP primary. Rulli still owes $750 to the company.

Rulli’s largest debt is $37,719 to Media Ad Ventures of Springfield, Virginia, for media advertising purchases.

Of the $68,924 raised by Rulli in the prespecial period, $48,775 came from political action committees.

Rulli received $5,000 in contributions from PACs representing the National Cattlemen’s Association, the Council for Insurance Agents and Brokers, the Air Line Pilots Association and from the Republican Governance Group / Tuesday Group, a moderate House Republican organization headed by U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, whose district includes Trumbull County.

Rulli also received $2,000 contributions from the PACs for U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, and Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green, two of the House’s most conservative members, as well as from the PAC for Dave Taylor, who won Ohio’s open 2nd Congressional District’s Republican primary.

Also, the FEC requires candidates to file notices of any contributions they receive of at least $1,000 less than 20 days before the election. The contributions have to be reported to the FEC within 48 hours of receiving them. Candidates don’t have to file reports on expenditures during that time.

As of Monday, Rulli reported $6,000 in contributions: $1,000 more from the National Cattlemen’s PAC and $5,000 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association PAC.

Between April 1 and May 22, Rulli’s campaign spent $44,872.

The Poolhouse debt repayment was Rulli’s largest expenditure during the prespecial period.

Other large expenditures include $6,000 to Zaino Hall & Farrin LLC of Columbus for “general consulting,” $5,623 to Marjorie Miller of Salem to reimburse her for food and beverages, and $4,126 to Grand Valley Consulting of Washington, D.C., for fundraising consulting.

Since December, when the campaign started, Rulli has raised $678,624 and spent $602,478.

The prespecial filing period was Kripchak’s strongest in terms of money raised.

Kripchak raised $17,036 during the period. He raised a total of $22,262 for his campaign.

Between Feb. 29 and March 31, Kripchak raised $5,226 for his campaign, including $500 of his own money and $2,049 in in-kind funding provided by him.

In the prespecial period, his largest contributors were Suzanne Winick of Salem, who gave $3,000, and the United Mine Workers of America, who gave $2,500.

Kripchak spent $5,686 in the prespecial period with his largest expenses being $2,337 to Fast Signs of Boardman for yard signs and $2,050 to Colossus Strategies and Consulting of Canfield for texting constituents and media consulting.

The 6th Congressional District includes all of Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, Belmont, Harrison, Monroe, Noble and Washington counties and portions of Stark and Tuscarawas counties

Mahoning is by far the district’s most-populous county. In the Democratic primary, Mahoning voters accounted for about 40% of the district’s total vote number. In the Republican primary, 25% of the total votes came from Mahoning County.

The district has an 18% advantage for Republicans based on voting trends in partisan statewide elections over the past decade. The seat is considered safe for Republicans.

The June 11 special election is being held to fill the seat vacated by Republican Bill Johnson, who resigned Jan. 21 to become Youngstown State University president.