Warner Crushes Gilmore In Fundraising For Virginia Senate Race

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gimore (R), who is seeking the Senate seat of the retiring Sen. John Warner (R), is being crushed by his Democratic opponent, and former Virginia governor Mark Warner, on the fundraising front. This according to the latest reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Gilmore reported raising just $402,000 in the first quarter, according to his first quarter 2008 giling with the FEC, bringing his total  raised to just over $753,000 since he jumped into the campaign last November. Gilmore has $208,000 in cash-on-hand.

Mark Warner, on the other hand raised $2.52 million in the first quarter, according to his FEC reports. The Warner for Senate committee reported cash-on-hand of $4.38 million. Warner has raised more than $6.3 million overall since entering the race.

Previously, Warner's Senate campaign committee reported raising $2.7 million in the 4th quarter ending December 31, 2007 and $1.1 million during the two-week period in the 3rd quarter of 2007 in which he was an active candidate.

While money isn't everything, as well evidenced by outcome of the Webb-Allen race in 2006, Warner has raised almost nine times as much money as Gilmore overall, and he has more than 21 times as much cash in the bank, which is clearly not a good sign for Gilmore and Virginia Republicans this fall.