Democratic Howard County Executive Ken Ulman raised 20 times more cash than his Republican rival Trent Kittleman did in the latest campaign finance reports that cover most of August, continuing a pattern established in a first round of reports last month.

Ulman reported raising $23,090 to Kittleman's $1,110, and the Democratic incumbent has $723,945 left on hand compared to Kittleman's $16,111. The reports were due Friday.

Both candidates said money is not the most important thing in their campaigns."Is it helpful to have resources to communicate to voters? Yes," Ulman said, but he contends that his record in the job over the past four years is more important. Kittleman said she has enough cash to be effective, though she admitted she'd like to have more.

"I'm running against the million dollar man," she said, referring to the $1.2 million Ulman has raised in this four-year cycle. She said she'd never want Howard County to be a place where you need a million dollars to win. Many potential contributors are reluctant to give money to someone running against a seemingly strong incumbent county executive, she said.

Both candidates spent the morning voting and visiting Howard's three early voting locations in Columbia, Jessup and Ellicott City.

larry.carson@baltsun.com