Here are some of the latest pieces of fundraising news in races from across the country, as the first-quarter money results start to come in:
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who is in danger of losing his seat this year, raised $1.5 million, and has over $10 million on hand.
• Former Nevada GOP Chair Sue Lowden, one of the candidates for the Republican nomination against Reid, raised $500,000. She has pledged to self-finance to match her individual donations, so this would bring in another $500,000 for a total of $1 million.
• The campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is facing a challenge in the Republican primary from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, announced that he raised more than $2.2 million in the quarter, and has $4.5 million cash-on-hand.
• Meanwhile, Hayworth’s campaign announced that he raised over $1 million for the quarter, for his challenge against McCain. They have also strongly denied allegations by the McCain campaign that they were in any way padding the total with pledges.
• Lt. Governor Bill Halter (D), who is challenging Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the Democratic primary, has raised $2 million dollars in the month since his announcement on March 1, a record in Arkansas. His campaign told TPMDC that the vast bulk of it (over 95%) is from individual donations, not corporate PACs.
• Businessman Bruce O’Donoghue, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run against Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), reportedly took in more than $300,000, not including money from the candidate himself. Before he can take on Grayson, though, O’Donoghue would have to spend that money in the contested Republican primary — and on Grayson’s part, his campaign recently raised almost $500,000 in a recent “money-bomb.”
• In the Republican primary for Senate in New Hampshire, to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg, businessman Jim Bender has announced raising $100,000, plus a self-financed loan of $400,000. Businessman Bill Binnie raised more than $400,000. Two other Republican candidates, former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and attorney Ovide Lamontagne, have not yet announced their totals.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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