McConnell Raises $3M In Quarter

By Alexander Burns

(The Politico)  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that he raised over $3 million for his re-election bid in the second quarter of 2008, and is poised to lead all Senate Republican fundraisers for the quarter.

According to McConnell’s campaign, this is the largest quarterly haul ever posted by a candidate for federal office in Kentucky. At the end of June, McConnell reported more than $9 million in cash on hand.

“I am humbled by the outpouring of support from Kentuckians and people across the country,” Senator McConnell said in a statement. “I plan to run a vigorous campaign and we will have the resources to deliver a convincing message to Kentuckians this fall.”

This contest is sure to feature ample spending on both sides. McConnell’s Democratic opponent, businessman Bruce Lunsford, recently announced that he was adding $1 million of his own money into his campaign account. The Democrat has previously spent $2.1 million in personal funds to win his party’s nomination for Senate – and has personal wealth estimated as high as $110 million.

Lunsford has not yet released his fundraising totals for the most recent quarter.

Lunsford is expected to benefit from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down the so-called “Millionaire’s Amendment” that raised contribution limits for candidates running against wealthy self-funders. That law would have allowed McConnell to raise even more money from maxed-out donors once Lunsford spent a certain amount of his personal funds on the race.

In light of these new numbers, however, McConnell seems to be doing just fine with the contribution limits as they are.