As of July 19, which is the most recent date for which the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board has balance information, neither Poppe nor Sparks had contributed any of their own money, known as in-kind contributions, to their respective campaigns. However, Green was listed to have contributed $462.29 in-kind to her campaign, and Gumbel was listed as having $489.16 in in-kind funds.

“That really surprises me that there’s been no in-kind (by the incumbents),” Gumbel said. “It might be an incumbent thing where they have more money and maybe they’re reimbursing themselves for things they’re paying.”

Sparks said he hasn’t needed to contribute in-kind to his campaign because of the support he’s received from individuals in the district.

“Our broad-based support has been enough to fund our campaigns,” Sparks said. “We’ve been very fortunate to have wonderful supporters locally.”

Sparks said it has become more difficult to raise money from individuals ever since the governor unallotted funds used for the political contribution refund (PCR) program. The PCR program allowed individuals to receive rebates of up to $50 per year ($100 for a married couple filing jointly) for political contributions to a state or local political party or to a candidate for state office.

“That has made it a little bit tougher to raise money from individuals,” Sparks said.

As of July 19, Green had raised the most money through individual donations, coming in at $6,300.05.

“The independent donations I’ve gotten are primarily from people within the district — people who have heard me talk and appreciate what I have to say,” Green said. “I look at it that the donations that I’ve accepted are reflective of me.”

Poppe, who had raised $3,081 from individuals and $325 from lobbyist groups as of July 19, said all donations are indicative of the support surrounding a candidate.

“People want to know that you’ve gotten local contributions,” Poppe said. “They want to know people are supporting you. But lobbyists also represent local people.”

As of July 19, the four state congressional candidates have spent a total of $13,696.88 on campaigning. Their cash balances at that time were $11,131.70 for Poppe, $25,217.69 for Sparks, $612.73 for Gumbel and $4,858.69 for Green.