Patrick Burgwinkle, a Democratic Party campaigner, is chortling after a look at Republican Asa Hutchinson’s March campaign finance reports for his gubernatorial race.

He notes: 1) the Hutchinson campaign had to bleed some contributions from campaign staffers to hit the $200,000 mark and 2) listed as an in-kind campaign contribution was a Republican-friendly poll that helpfully provided some pro-Asa numbers right after he was hit with an unflattering attack by a primary opponent over his past support for Democratic attorney general Eric Holder.

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Burgwinkle notes that Hutchinson reported $200,179 in March fund-raising, but hit the $200,000 level thanks to a $100 contribution from campaign manager Jon Gilmore on March 30 and $250 from deputy finance director and scheduler Mistey Murphey on the last day of the reporting period. Then there’s that poll by OnMessage Inc. of Maryland, listed as a non-money contribution of $1,500 in the overall total. It was worth lots more given that it showed an 8-point lead over Mike Ross no other recent poll has shown (such as a recent dead heat by Hendrix-Talk Business polling that had Ross up by 1.) Said Burgwinkle: “Very odd to list a poll as a contribution to your campaign. If you’re not willing to pay for the poll, it raises questions about the poll’s validity. And clearly they were nervous about not making it over the $200k mark. It’s perception, but $200K sounds a lot better than $199K.”

Well, you’d expect a Democratic campaigner to say such.

For balance: Mike Ross, the leading Democratic contender, raised about $222,000 in March. The Republican spin is that his early fund-raising edge is evaporating and his burn rate exceeds Hutchinson’s.

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Hurry the vote.

CORRECTION NOTED: In my mangling of Burgwinkle’s name in initial post.

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