SIERRA VISTA — In Congressional District 8’s fundraising horse race, Democrat Gabrielle Giffords is in front of Republican Tim Bee by a 3-to-1 margin.

The candidates’ financial information was included in a second quarter report to the Federal Election Committee. There is one more reporting deadline before the home stretch to the general election on Nov. 4.

For the reporting period, the quarter that went from April 1 to June 30, Giffords showed cash on hand of $2,077,845.80, while Bee declared he had $687,703.62 in cash available.

Giffords raised $171,761.32 more than Bee during the fundraising quarter after both candidates reported some campaign refunds — Giffords at $1,333.54 and Bee at $3,220.

In a statement from Bee’s campaign headquarters, Tom Dunn noted the Republican candidate “brought in more than any other challenger race in Arizona and maintained his national presence as a top-tier contender in the nation’s most contested congressional race.”

Since the campaign began and during two reporting quarters, more than 1,800 individual donors have supported Bee with donations, the press release stated.

In the most recent quarter, Bee received donations from 306 Arizonans, six from out-of-state and 39 political action committees, election committees, companies and corporations. Many of the donors gave more than once.

Some of the donations came from other political campaigns or individuals running for office, some of which came about during a fundraiser at retired U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe’s home in Washington, D.C.

Kolbe, a Republican who held the District 8 seat for 22 years and was a honorary chairman of Bee’s campaign, recently announced he would no longer be actively involved in Bee’s campaign.

The most current report indicates Kolbe donated $250 on June 18, bringing his total during the campaign to $1,250 to support Bee.

On Friday, the top thoroughbred in the GOP fundraising stable, President George W. Bush, will be in Tucson to raise money for Bee.

Individual donors in and out of Arizona donated anywhere from $500 to $1,300 to Bee during the last quarter’s report. As for PACs and other groups, their donations ranged from $1,000 to $5,000.

Giffords received individual donations from 476 people who live in Arizona, 100 from outside the state and saw contributions from 117 PACs, election committees and other similar functions.

Her individual contributors, some of whom donated more than once during the April 1 to June 30 reporting period, provided amounts ranging from $25 to $2,300.

As for PACs and other similar entities, some of whom also donated more than once, the amount ranged from $5,000 to $41,000.

In announcing the success of Giffords’ last quarter fundraising, her campaign manager, Zach Wineburg, noted the amount came from nearly 1,900 individual contributors during the campaign and of the total amount, 81 percent during the campaign is from residents of Arizona.

Giffords’ campaign chairman Michael McNulty noted, “These Arizonans come from all walks of life, they care about the future and they want the kind of change and common sense solutions that Congresswoman Giffords is fighting for.”

Giffords is a freshman member of Congress and a former Arizona legislator.

Bee, who is the Arizona State Senate president, is seeking to return the District 8 seat to the Republican Party.

The only question is will it be the donkey or the elephant crossing the campaign finish line first.