WASHINGTON - Shortly after his Republican opponent Mike McFadden announced a record-breaking fundraising quarter, DFL Sen. Al Franken' s campaign came out with its own record fundraising numbers, bringing in $4.2 million in the three months ending Sept. 30.

That's $900,000 more than Franken's previous best quarter. The campaign says it has $2.75 million for the final stretch.

Franken's take is more than double McFadden's $2 million raised, and he has considerably more money on hand than McFadden's $1 million. Franken spent even more heavily over the summer than McFadden, approximately $6.4 million, on a barrage of ads and field organizers.

The Franken campaign again touted Franken's extensive network of small dollar donors noting that more than 97 percent of donations were $100 or less and that more than 25,000 new donors contributed to the campaign over the last quarter.

Despite a series of recent polls showing Franken with a lead over McFadden, the campaign sought to play down Franken's edge.

"We expect this to be a tough race, right until the polls close," said Matt Burgess, Franken's campaign manager, in a statement.