Huntsman's Raised Just $1,000 in NH

Jon Huntsman is pinning his chances of winning the GOP nomination on the Granite State, even going so far as to boycott Nevada for its attempt to mess with New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status.

Yet, donors here aren't buying into his campaign.

According to campaign finance data released this week, Huntsman has received just two donations from New Hampshire residents, totaling $1,000. One $500 donation was from James Conway of Hollis, whose occupation is listed as an investor in Dead Cat Investment Fund. The other $500 donation was from Peter S. Voss, a retiree from Sunapee.

The $1,000 Huntsman raised in New Hampshire is the same amount he's raised in Alaska, $1,550 less than he's raised in South Carolina, and $155,000 less than he raised in Nevada, the state he is now boycotting.

"Clearly, even the most optimistic reading of Huntsman's polling doesn't suggest a big surge in support that would deliver a lot of money," said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. "There's been no evidence that there's a lot of excitement among that elite level that donates. This confirms what we already know."

What should be most troubling to the Huntsman campaign is how he stacks up to other candidates in New Hampshire. The $1,000 he's raised is the same amount raised by Thad McCotter, . And it's $650 less than Newt Gingrich, who has shown very little in the way of a New Hampshire campaign operation.

Mitt Romney, the front-runner here, has raised $216,791 since January, while Ron Paul has raised $82,493. Rick Perry, who only entered the race in August, has already raised $33,533 here, and Tim Pawlenty, who is no longer in the race, raised $21,635. Herman Cain, who topped a recent national poll, has raised $18,287.

Still, Scala said, "you're comparing him to Romney. That's someone with years and years of experience and networking, versus just a few months."

But even Gary Johnson, who has yet to register much support in the New Hampshire polls, raised 10 times as much as Huntsman ($10,500). And Michele Bachmann, who was absent from the state for a three-month stretch this summer, has raised $10,485. Rick Santorum has raised $8,225.

Huntsman spokesman Michael Levoff declined comment for this story.