Gov. Linda Lingle remains far ahead of challenger Randall Iwase in campaign fundraising with less than one month remaining until the Nov. 7 election, according to reports filed yesterday with the state Campaign Spending Commission.

Lingle reported raising $135,731 in campaign contributions from Sept. 9 to Sept. 23, bringing her donations to more than $5.9 million over the past four years.

Other receipts brought the Lingle campaign's total income to $6.2 million, and she reported having $2.3 million on hand after deducting expenditures.

Iwase reported raising $3,419 in contributions during the September period, bringing his total to $181,421. He has also lent his campaign $60,000.

Iwase, who entered the race in January, spent most of his campaign money prior to the Sept. 23 primary election, and reported having $5,695 remaining at that time.

Lingle, a former mayor of Maui County and the state's first Republican governor since 1962, is widely seen as the race's front-runner.

Iwase, a Democrat, is an attorney and former state senator who was appointed in 2000 to the state Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board.

He stepped down in January to challenge Lingle, and gained the support of the state's two largest public worker unions, the Hawai'i Government Employees Association and the Hawai'i State Teachers Association.

Lingle has been endorsed by three other big public-sector unions: the University of Hawai'i Professional Assembly, State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers and the Hawai'i Fire Fighters Association.

Absentee voters are expected to play a key role in deciding the election, as they did in the Sept. 23 primary. More than 94,000 voters cast absentee ballots through the mail or in person before that election day — the most ever for a Hawai'i primary.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.