Underdog presidential candidates spend heavily to catch up

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders continued to outpace rival Hillary Clinton in fundraising — and spending — last month, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

While racking up wins in recent primary states, except in New York this week, Sanders has failed to nudge Clinton off her apparent path to the party's presidential nomination.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich scored a must-win primary in his home state last month, but the victory only modestly helped his campaign coffers.

Quicken Loans founder and chairman Dan Gilbert and hedge fund manager David Tepper, president of Appaloosa Management L.P., both gave $250,000.

Like Kasich, Cruz cannot win the GOP nomination outright; however, he has amassed far more delegates than the governor, putting him in a stronger position if the nominee is chosen this summer at a contested convention.

[...] Cruz's top financial supporter, hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, ponied up another $2 million in March, bringing his total investment in Cruz's efforts to $13.5 million.

The group's filing shows that the bulk of the money went into anti-Trump ads, research and voter contact.

[...] data from Kantar Media's advertising tracker show the group has reserved more than $64 million in television ads scheduled to air from Aug. 2 through the day before the general election.

According to FEC filings, Carson spent $157,000 on political strategy consulting and an additional $103,000 on travel for his political consultants in the weeks after he ended his bid.

Carson, who raised more than $63 million this election cycle, paid at least $16 million to fundraising and marketing firms owned by a pair of his top consultants, the AP found.