ALBANY -- Democrat Mark Poloncarz raised more than four times the campaign dollars brought in by Republican Chris Collins the past three weeks, but the GOP incumbent Erie County executive has far more money on hand to spend in the final days of the bruising campaign.

Over the 20-day period ending last week, Poloncarz raised $194,000, at a clip of nearly $10,000 a day. Collins reported Friday that he raised $47,000 during the same period.

But Collins ended the reporting period with $853,000 on hand, whereas Poloncarz had $249,000. The cash difference means Collins will have a far deeper war chest to unleash a last-minute advertising and get-out-the-vote blitz.

The financial numbers for Collins were made public Friday, but the fundraising and spending efforts by Poloncarz in the final disclosure report before next week's elections wasn't made available by the state Board of Elections until Monday.

Unions accounted for 20 percent of the money flowing to Poloncarz over a 20-day period ending last week, while a lineup of current and former local, state and federal Democratic politicians sent money to try to defeat Collins.

If the race is attracting attention beyond Erie County because of the supposed interest by Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in seeing an end to Collins' political career, the new numbers don't show it.

Only $14,000 of the money Poloncarz raised during the period came from beyond Western New York, and two-thirds of that out-of-town funding was given by two major unions -- representing construction workers and public employees -- in Albany and Washington.

The help from other politicians to Poloncarz was all local. Rep. Brian Higgins donated $100, while former Rep. John LaFalce contributed $2,000 from his leftover congressional campaign fund. Former Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello, a partner in a Buffalo lobbying firm that has had business dealings before the county on behalf of clients, kicked in $1,000 from his former mayoral account. Masiello, out of office almost six years, still has $437,000 in his old campaign fund.

With a heftier bankroll, Collins also outpaced Poloncarz in the spending category during the past three weeks. His report showed $465,000 spent in the 20-day period. Poloncarz spent $139,000 -- 85 percent of which went for television ad production and placement by SKDKnickerbocker, a politically wired Washington-based consulting and media firm whose clients range from proponents in this year's successful gay marriage battle in New York to gambling companies to Democratic politicians across the country.

The single largest contribution to Poloncarz in the past three weeks was $15,000 from the Building and Construction Trades Council, a union umbrella group. He got $7,000 from the local and international union representing some county workers and $6,000 from the Buffalo PBA political action committee.

Corporate donors included $5,000 apiece from Great Lakes Building Systems in Buffalo and Northwind Insulation in Orchard Park. Individual donors included $5,000 from David Cloy of DWC Mechanical in Cheektowaga and $5,000 from James Egan, Poloncarz's campaign finance director who previously gave him $10,000. Another large donor, and one of the few out-of-town contributors, was Jason Walthall, a San Francisco business consultant, who donated $3,000.

Stefan Mychajliw, a Collins spokesman, said the $249,000 balance for Poloncarz reported to the Elections Board has been lowered by another $125,000 in a television advertising purchase that came after the disclosure report's deadline. The Collins campaign does not believe Poloncarz has enough money left on hand for a major enhancement of its advertising efforts in the closing days of the race.

But Peter Anderson, a Poloncarz spokesman, said, "We stand by the filing that was submitted to the board Friday."

As for the Collins campaign suggesting Poloncarz does not have enough cash for a major uptick in its ad wars, Anderson said, "He can believe what he wants."

The new filing also shows the continuation of an unusual, "in-kind" contribution: the nearly $1,000 per week salary payment of Jennifer Hibit, the campaign manager for Poloncarz, by 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the Manhattan-based health care workers union.

tprecious@buffnews.comnull