Wisconsin Senate race: Kevin Nicholson edges Leah Vukmir in fundraising in last three months of 2017

In their heated Republican race for U.S. Senate, Delafield businessman Kevin Nicholson held a 2-to-1 fundraising advantage over state Sen. Leah Vukmir during the last three months of 2017.

Nicholson's campaign said Monday that it raised more than $800,000 during the fourth quarter, while Vukmir said she raised more than $400,000 during the period.

Nicholson has raised more than $1.2 million since he launched his campaign last year, while Vukmir has raised more than $650,000.

Neither campaign gave a total for cash on hand.

Vukmir and Nicholson are the only announced Republican candidates seeking to take on Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Baldwin had $5.3 million cash on hand at the end of the third quarter.

Wisconsin Next PAC, which is supporting Vukmir, announced that it will report having more than $1 million cash on hand.

"Wisconsin Next PAC has exceeded our initial fundraising goals thanks to growing conservative support for Leah Vukmir's Senate campaign," said the group's senior adviser, Stephan Thompson. "With over $1 million raised already, we are confident we will have the resources to unite Republicans behind Leah and defeat Senator Baldwin."

The two major super PAC's backing Nicholson, Club for Growth Action and Solutions for Wisconsin, will report ending the fourth quarter with $1.1 million cash on hand designated for the Wisconsin race, according to an operative.

In the 6th Congressional District race, Democrat Dan Kohl, who is bidding to unseat U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), raised $329,000 during the fourth quarter.

Kohl's campaign said that it raised $865,000 overall last year and had more than $600,000 cash on hand.

The Kohl campaign said 98% of the funds raised came from individuals and did include any contributions or loans from the candidate, who is the nephew of former Democratic U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl.

The Grothman campaign has not reported fundraising totals for the last three months of 2017.

Grothman's campaign had $324,000 cash on hand at the end of the third quarter of 2017.

Meanwhile, Democratic candidate for attorney general Josh Kaul said Monday he had raised nearly $430,000 since he got in the race in April.

Kaul said he had $280,000 on hand as of the end of December. He released his totals ahead of next week's filing deadline.

GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel has not said how much he raised in the last six months of 2017. At the end of June, he had about $381,000 in his campaign account.

Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.