The race between Pohai Ryan and Laura Thielen is nearly tied — at least in terms of fundraising.

Thielen, whose controversial run as a Democrat has caused an uproar within the Democratic Party of Hawaii, received the most contributions among the four District 25 state Senate candidates.

She raised just over $30,000 between Jan. 1 and June 30, according her campaign finance report.

The biggest contributions amounted to $4,000 each — it’s the maximum allowed during an election cycle — and came from more than 25 people, some of them members of Thielen’s immediate family. Records show that the candidate gave herself $4,000, too.

With total expenditures adding up to roughly $12,500, Thielen had more than $21,400 cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.

Ryan, the incumbent, raised about $28,500 in the first half of 2012. Most of it came from organized labor.

Ryan’s largest donors were Hawaii electrician and operating engineer unions. Four political action committees gave contributions of $4,000 each.

Ryan also had the highest expenditures, spending close to $21,000 during the first half of the year. Ryan reported about $15,400 cash in hand at the end of the reporting period.

All told, candidates for the seat that includes Lanikai, Kailua, Keolu Hills, Waimanalo and Hawaii Kai raised $80,000 total in campaign contributions during the first half of 2012, according to campaign finance reports.

But nearly three-fourths went to Ryan and Thielen, an indication of the great interest in that particular match-up.

“I wasn’t sure what the temperature was going to be like until I started going door to door — you know, with all the concerns,” said Ryan. “But people have been very responsive and say they are very familiar with me. A common comment I get is, ‘Thank you for being so accesible and sharing information via the Internet,’ like job postings, RFPs, governor’s messages — things I think that they should know about. Some say they have never seen that before.”

Thielen says voters know her face as well.

“Generally, it’s going very well,” said Thielen. “I have a done a lot of door-to-door, and there has been a tremendous amount of recognition. A lot of people are also interested in talking, and that has been enjoyable. It’s been a very positive response. I’ve had less than five negative experiences. One was over operating vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods.”

Hemmings, Lipton Trail in Fundraising

Fundraising levels in races for the Hawaii Legislature can vary considerably.

For example, in another important primary matchup, two Democratic state senators — Brian Taniguchi and Carol Fukunaga, incumbents thrown into the same district because of reapportionment — have raised starkly different amounts. Taniguchi pulled in just over $13,000 during the lastest reporting period while Fukunaga raised nearly $40,000.

Taniguchi and Fukunaga are political veterans who have served in office for decades. By contrast, Ryan is a relative newcomer while Thielen is in her first-ever run for office. Their race continues to make headlines, and they’ve dominated discussion of the contest.

A third Democrat in the District 25 contest, Levani Lipton, raised only about $5,700. Nearly half of that money came from a member of her immediate family.

Lipton also spent more than $11,300 over the course of the reporting period. She reported a debt of more than $5,600 as of June 30.

The fourth candidate is Republican Fred Hemmings, who held the District 25 seat until retiring in 2010.

He received about $15,800 in campaign contributions during the recent reporting period, $2,000 of which was from Denver Broncos owner Patrick Bowlen. A number of island conservatives also gave to Hemmings, including former legislator Quentin Kawananakoa, Republican stalwart Andrew Poepoe and MidWeek columnist Gerry Coffee.

Hemmings spent roughly $9,700 over the course of the reporting period and had a surplus of about $6,100.

Among those contributing to Thielen were University of Hawaii law professor Randy Roth, Lea Hong, the Hawaii state director of The Trust for Public Land; and Victor Geminiani, executive director of Lawyers for Equal Justice.

“Almost every single donation was from an individual,” said Thielen. “The support has been very humbling.”

Among those contributing to Ryan were the United Public Workers, the Hawaii Carpenters and unions representing ironworkers and sheet metal workers.

Ryan’s husband, Keo Ryan, is a carpenter, and she says she has labor support because she understands their issues.

“They know that I am an advocate and that I stand for justice in the workplace,” she said. “But I also have small business supporting me, too… You can’t have jobs if you don’t have business.”

Frisbees, Meat Jun, Lei

Thielen spent most of her contributions on conventional campaign materials — four types of campaign signs, business cards, T-shirts, office supplies and the like.

Ryan, on the other hand, used her campaign funding for less conventional items.

Much of her money went toward a cell phone, a laptop, iPad accessories and a slew of lei. She also spent some of her contributions on garlic chicken, noodles, spring rolls and meat jun that she provided at campaign gatherings.

Both Lipton and Hemmings spent most of their campaign funding on advertisement needs.

Lipton bought advertising materials ranging from banners and buttons to T-shirts and frisbees. Hemmings kept it simple: bumper stickers, signs and a series of Honolulu Star-Advertiser advertisements.