Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz raised far less money than her Democratic primary challenger, Tim Canova, brought in during the most recent fundraising quarter, but he depleted his advantage with heavy spending.

As a result, Wasserman Schultz entered the final two months of the campaign with more money than Canova.

Newly filed reports with the Federal Election Commission show Canova took in slightly more than $1.7 million from April 1 through June 30. But he spent about $1.2 million, which works out to almost 70 percent of what he raised.

Wasserman Schultz raised about $1.3 million during the same three months. She husbanded her resources, spending $546,000. That works out to 43 percent of what she took in during the second quarter and less than half of what Canova spent.

Cash on hand – after accounting for what the candidates started with, what they took in and what they spent – may be more significant than what the candidates raised. As the Aug. 30 primary gets closer, it shows what they have available for the most critical stretch of the campaign.

Canova had $986,000 in his campaign bank account on July 1. He also had debt of $20,000, including the $15,000 he loaned his campaign when he entered the race in January.

Wasserman Schultz had $1.6 million in cash and no debt.

It's unknown how much they have now, as both have continued to raise and spend money since the June 30 cutoff for the latest financial reports. In the last week, Canova began spending on television and radio ads touting his vision and criticizing Weston congresswoman.

The figures come from reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The reports were due at midnight Friday, and many candidates don't file their electronic disclosures of contributions and spending until just before the deadline.

(Anthony Man) (Anthony Man)

Canova's fundraising haul was impressive, both because he's never run for office before and he's challenging a sitting leader of his own party. In addition to serving in Congress for six terms, Wasserman Schultz is chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Contributions

A review of the reports reveals some level of concern about money in the Wasserman Schultz camp, as she turned to her colleagues in the U.S. House and Senate for financial aid.

Collectively, 31 representatives and senators pumped in $75,000 from their re-election campaign accounts and political action committees they control – with more than two-thirds of the contributions coming in during the final nine days of the reporting period, a time when candidates typically push hard for contributions so the public financial disclosures show healthy totals.

Contributions came in from Florida and across the country. Among those giving to Wasserman Schultz's re-election campaign were U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-West Boca, $9,000; U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, $1,000; U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-West Delray, $2,700; U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., $4,000; U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, $7,000; and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 House Democrat, $7,000.

Wasserman Schultz campaign spokesman Ryan Banfill said by email that "their support demonstrates the friendships she has developed with other Members of Congress and the respect that they have for her role as a leader in the Democratic Caucus." Banfill said the "strength of her relationships with colleagues all across the country helps make the congresswoman an effective representative" for her Broward/Miami-Dade county district.

Wasserman Schultz got $786,000 from donors who gave between $200 and $2,700. (Donors can give a maximum of $5,400, half for the primary and half for the general election.) She also received $199,000 in smaller, unitemized contributions and $285,000 political action committees and political committees controlled by other members of Congress.

Many of her contributors were lawyers and doctors. She also received money from people connected with the entertainment industry. Among them, Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation and his wife, Marilyn, and filmmaker Steven Spielberg. Each gave the maximum.

PAC contributions to Wasserman Schultz came from a range of corporations and labor unions. Among them, Major League Baseball ($1,500) and National Football League's Gridiron PAC ($2,500).

Canova got the bulk of the bulk of his money – $1.3 million – from contributions less than $200. He received $400,000 in larger contributions and just $5,500 from political committees.

Both took in far more during the second quarter than during the first three months of the year. Canova took in $538,000 during the first quarter. From January through March, Wasserman Schultz raised $576,000. Because she was raising money for her re-election before Canova got in the race, Wasserman Schultz started the year with $468,000 in her campaign fund.

The contest

Canova, a professor of law and public finance at Nova Southeastern University, has raised lots of money online by tapping supporters of Bernie Sanders, who lost his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sanders, who has endorsed Canova, and his supporters believe that Wasserman Schultz has run the DNC in a way that favored presidential primary winner Hillary Clinton. The central theme of Canova's campaign – just like Sanders' campaign against Clinton – has been that Wasserman Schultz is too beholden to corporate interests that are major campaign contributors.

It's exceedingly difficult for a challenger to beat an incumbent in a primary. An incumbent like Wasserman Schultz comes into the race with an enormous advantage because she's well known to the district's voters. Canova has to introduce himself — and persuade voters to support him over a person who's won every election since she first ran for state Legislature in 1992.

As Democratic national chairwoman, Wasserman Schultz is about to get a burst of publicity as a face of the opposition party during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and a leader of her party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. But that will also take keep her way from her Broward/Miami-Dade County district for most of the next two weeks.

On Friday, Canova was endorsed by the liberal Working Families Party, which had supported Sanders. Earlier in the week, Wasserman Schultz was endorsed by the political action committee connected with SAVE, the Miami-Dade County LGBT advocacy group. She also has endorsements from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Spending

The spending by both candidates reflects expenses of operating a campaign and running offices: Sponsorship of events at political clubs, room rentals and catering for events, payments to service providers for banking, credit card processing of campaign contributions, cell phones and internet, printing and postage, office rent, travel and salaries.