The good news for Rep. Merrill Cook is that he has $215,000 in cash in his campaign account.

The bad news is a 3rd District Court jury last week said his campaign owes $174,000 to Cook's 1996 campaign consultant.The new FEC reports were due this week. And while Cook has done all right in fund raising, the jury's verdict could financially cripple his 2000 campaign unless Cook pumps more of his own money into the race, somehow delays the settlement payoff or appeals the jury decision.

Cook said contributors to his campaign won't be paying a dime of the settlement.

"I will pay that out of my own pocket if I have to," Cook said Monday. "But we believe we will get most or all of our attorneys' fees paid (by R.T. Nielson) as the written contract between us says. And I've spent more than $200,000 on attorneys' fees -- and so I believe that settlement will zero out. I won't pay anything more." Cook expects the trial judge to rule in his favor on attorneys' fees soon.

Cook, a millionaire, has over the past 12 years spent more than $3 million of his own money on various runs for office. But his two mining explosive production plants have been shut down for a year.

And while Cook says one of them should open soon, for some time he's been living on his $134,000-a-year congressional salary.

"No one likes to pay such a settlement out of their own pocket. But I can (afford it)." He added that he believes his Minnesota plant could be up and running by June. "We have many orders (for explosives) in, but I've never run a plant at a loss and I won't even now."

Meanwhile, Democrat Jim Matheson has $354,718 in cash -- sitting pretty on top of the 2nd Congressional District fund-raising pile.

Jeff Wright, who is challenging Cook for the Republican nomination, has $76,000 in cash. And Derek Smith, another GOP challenger, has $8,800 in cash.

Wright and Smith may well self-fund their campaigns. How much cash they have at this point doesn't mean that much. They can just write their campaigns a personal check when money is needed.

Wright, a venture capitalist who is heir to a family fortune, put $250,000 of his own money into his race late last year. Financial filings with the U.S. House clerk's office, which only show ranges of assets, say Wright is worth between $29 million and $68 million.

Smith, a millionaire president of a high-tech Internet company, has put $9,000 into his race and owes himself and various consultants $33,000. When he filed for office March 17, the final day for filing, Smith said he would spend what he needs to from his personal funds to win the seat.

Matheson, son of the late Democratic Gov. Scott M. Matheson, has been fund raising for nearly a year. He is not putting his own money into his race, Matheson says.

Friday, a civil trial jury decided that Cook must pay his 1996 campaign consultant, R.T. Nielson, $193,000 for work that Cook and Nielson verbally agreed upon. Nielson also made some billing errors and overbilled Cook $19,000, and so must pay back that amount.

The difference Cook may have to write a check for is $174,000.

Over the past several years, Cook said, he's put more than $200,000 of his own money into his campaign account as a reflection of his attorneys' fees. "My contributors, both past and present, will not pay one dime of that amount. I will."

Cook is stressing that his 2000 contributions won't go to pay the judgment or attorneys' fees because House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, comes to town this Thursday for a Cook fund-raiser.

Battling for his political life within the Utah Republican Party, Cook said the $100-per-person, $500-per-PAC fund-raiser at Wheeler Farm is for donors only from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. "But after 6 p.m. any Republican (2nd District) delegate who is uncommitted (or supports Cook) can come in and meet the majority leader for free. No charge to them," Cook said.

Democrats are six seats short of regaining a majority in the 435-member House. Cook's 2nd District race is almost universally listed as a critical seat by both national Republican and Democratic strategists. Cook has received financial and moral support from GOP House leadership, with various members of the leadership team coming to Utah to raise money for Cook.

So far this year on the financial front:

Matheson has raised $201,892 and spent $47,488. Matheson has been frugal with his expenditures, saving up his campaign cash for lengthy and costly TV and radio ads near the end of his campaign.

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Cook has raised $87,037 and spent $31,275.

Wright has raised $7,134 and spent $151,584. Wright already has billboards up across the 2nd District in Salt Lake County.

Smith, whose report only covers from the day he got in the race, March 17, to the report's filing cut-off, March 31, raised no money from outside sources, just the $9,000 he put in. Smith picked up the campaign manager, media firm and campaign consult of former-candidate Mark Emerson -- who got out of the GOP race last month saying he couldn't financially compete with Cook, Wright and Smith's personal wealth. Smith owes those firms $24,594 in work they've done for Smith over March.

You can reach Bob Bernick Jr. by e-mail at bbjr@desnews.com

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