* Press release…
In the first full quarter since announcing her campaign for U.S. Senate, Democrat Tammy Duckworth raised over $1.2 million. This amount exceeds Senator Mark Kirk’s first full quarter of 2016; in April, Kirk announced he had raised just over $1 million in the first quarter. Duckworth announced her campaign for Senate at the end of March, and thus far has raised more than $1.7 million this cycle. The campaign has $2.2 million on hand.
“Tammy’s vision for a stronger Illinois that looks after its citizens and honors the service and sacrifice of everyday heroes — be they Veterans, working moms, or middle-class families looking to get ahead — is clearly resonating,” Tammy for Illinois campaign manager Kaitlin Fahey said. “It’s especially gratifying to see how many grassroots contributions and repeating small-dollar contributions we’ve received. This is a campaign that will be powered by the everyday Illinoisans Tammy aims to serve.”
Some key highlights from the report, which will be filed with the Senate Office of Public Records and Federal Elections Commission within a week:
The campaign received over 12,700 individual contributions
Of those contributions, 94.7 percent were $100 or less, and the median individual contribution was $25
More than 90 percent of the campaign’s $2.2 million cash-on-hand balance can be spent at any time, at the campaign’s discretion. In other words, the campaign has more than $2 million at its disposal to spend toward a primary or general election.
The Illinois Senate race is consistently ranked as the top race in the country, and Senator Kirk is routinely listed as the most vulnerable Senate incumbent. Nevertheless, Kirk’s $1 million raised during the first quarter ranked last among the five most vulnerable Republican incumbents: Sens. Portman (OH), $2.3 million; Toomey (PA), $2 million; Johnson (WI), $1.3 million; and Ayotte (NH), $1.2 million.
*** UPDATE *** From the Kirk campaign…
Kirk raised $1.35 million this quarter with $3.2 million cash-on-hand. This is Senator Kirk’s single largest fundraising quarter since being elected to the Senate.
Duckworth is finishing last right now among Senate Democrat candidates
Russ Feingold (WI) raised $2 million.
Fellow Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD) raised $1.5 million
Fellow Rep. Patrick Murphy (FL) raised $1.4 million
- Anon - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 12:54 pm:
How much does Kirk have on hand?
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 12:57 pm:
Not a surprise. She is a viable candidate facing a weak incumbent and representing the political party out of power. She is already in Congress and that is where the fiscal networks and deals are made.
Consequently, there will be a repulsive amount of available dough she can use, waste, abuse and embarrass herself with.
Ask Schock how that works.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 1:09 pm:
Will say the lowest D so far is a bit of a surprise…
- Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 1:22 pm:
==- OneMan - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 1:09 pm:==
She’s not low on a per capita basis. Florida is a lot larger and Murphy only outraised her on a raw basis by 200k.
- DecaturGuy - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 1:33 pm:
Duckworth continues to underwhelm. lost to roskam in a dem wave year. underperformed obama in 2012 against joe walsh and was in a competitive race for most of the cycle in a district drawn for her. she’s just not a good campaigner/fundraiser.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 1:43 pm:
So PC
So are we using the per-capita basis? If so than Van Hollen and Fiengold raised over double than she did per-capita.
Also I suspect when it comes senate races the size of the state isn’t going to play too much into how much was raised.
- Team Sleep - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 1:51 pm:
Given the cost of running ads in a state the size of Illinois, a $100,000 difference is really not that big. Except for one thing. By all appearances - and for all of the bluster on the right - Kirk won’t have a primary challenge that will drain his account. Congresswoman Duckworth will, and I bet that Ms. Zopp will advertise enough in Chicago and the suburbs to force Cong. Duckworth to burn through her cash. That will be important and, if current trends appear to hold steady, it looks like some of the GOP Congressional Delegation won’t have serious challengers. That frees up RNC cash for Senator Kirk.
- Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 3:33 pm:
Zopp may be more formidable than first expected.
==Duckworth is finishing last right now among Senate Democrat candidates==
==Underwhelming== may be right.
- walker - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 3:58 pm:
Out of state money will be flowing for both. Biggest Senate race in the nation, in some eyes.
- Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Jul 8, 15 @ 4:43 pm:
Duckworth will have plenty of money. And to those Kirk folks who keep wanting to dis Tammy, may I remind you that Kirk himself said he would much rather run against Andy Zopp.
- Late to the Party - Thursday, Jul 9, 15 @ 7:00 am:
The best politicians that money can buy.