County Executive Chris Collins can afford even more ads for his re-election campaign after notching another successful fundraiser Tuesday, this one starring Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.

The Republican incumbent collected about $100,000 in a luncheon event in the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Museum, swelling an already brimming campaign account officially pegged at about $1.3 million, according to aides and campaign finance records.

The latest event positions him as the undisputed fundraising king as he runs for a second term, and presents major questions about the ability of his Democratic opponent, Erie County Comptroller Mark

C. Poloncarz, to compete against the millionaire businessman.

Tuesday’s fundraiser also demonstrates the power of his incumbency and the ability of allies like businessman Anthony

H. Gioia, former ambassador to Malta and a major GOP fundraiser, to recruit top national figures like Thune.

“What a contrast his model of leadership is with Washington,

D. C.,” the senator told The Buffalo News after the event. “We suffer from a lack of leadership and what would appear to be a lack of competence in the eyes of most Americans, and the lack of ability to get results.

“Those are all things that County Executive Collins and the leadership here in Buffalo are doing,” he added. “It’s a great story, and it’s one that would be nice to see replicated.”

Thune, who consistently earns high marks from conservative groups around the country, proclaimed himself a fan of the Collins mantra of “running government like a business.” He said he approves of a government that reduces its size and cost.

“I’m someone who believes we can benefit a lot from having that kind of approach and mindset in Washington, D. C.,” he said. “Right now, we seem to be of the belief in Washington that growing the footprint of government and making it bigger is the solution to our economic woes, instead of unleashing the private economy.”

While much of Collins’ impressive bank account stems from $800,000 he has loaned his campaign, he has experienced no difficulties in raising the remainder. The county executive expects to stage at least one more major fundraiser in October, according to campaign sources, while the success to date has been able to fund broadcast commercials since Aug. 15.

Poloncarz, by contrast, has yet to air an ad on either television or radio.

According to the latest state Board of Elections records, Poloncarz had only about $105,000 on hand in July. Since then, aides say he raised about $80,000 in an event sponsored by the area’s three Democratic members of Congress, but spokesman Peter Anderson this week declined to reveal any more about the campaign’s finances until the next required reporting date in October.

Still, Anderson issued a blistering statement Tuesday that cast Collins as the candidate of “wealthy contributors, affluent backers and just plain rich folk.”

“Without a thought, millionaire Chris Collins and his out-of- touch political cronies easily spend $1,000 a plate while supporting cuts in services, decimating arts and cultural organizations and suffocating infrastructure repair,” Anderson said. “Thune’s views don’t represent those of the hard-working men and women of Erie County, just like Collins doesn’t work for the people of Erie County.”

Anderson also said it was appropriate that Thune would campaign for Collins, since the senator voted “yes” on the budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which Anderson said would leave millions “on their own” after retirement. He likened that vote to Collins making “drastic cuts in local health care and left needy families to fend for themselves.”

He said Thune voted to cut $98 million from the National Endowment for the Arts, while Collins “vindictively used the local arts community as his own funding pinata.” And he said Thune voted “no” on a Senate bill to furnish bridge repair funding, while Collins let county infrastructure crumble.

Thune campaigned for Collins Tuesday at the invitation of Gioia, who hosted several major donors at his North Buffalo home before the luncheon. Collins’ donors, meanwhile, paid $1,000 to attend the lunch.

Washington observers say Thune is among those under consideration for the third-highest ranking post in the Republican Senate, after Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee announced earlier this month he will leave his position as Republican Conference chairman.

The South Dakotan rose to prominence after he defeated former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.

rmccarthy@buffnews.comnull