

ADVERTISEMENT The group, which launched in October, said it will report raising more than $1.1 million during the second quarter, which runs from April through June, with more than $1 million cash on hand for the Kentucky Senate race.Ryan Aquilina, the group's executive director, said he hoped the funding would help show Amy McGrath, who Democrats are trying to recruit to run against McConnell, that she'll have grassroots support if she jumps in the race.

"We are building something that Mitch McConnell has never faced before. We are building a grassroots movement strong enough, and early enough, to take on McConnell and win. We hope that Amy McGrath sees that, if she decides to run, grassroots donors like ours will be there for her on day one," Aquilina said in a statement.

The group has raised a total of more than $1.5 million from more than 66,000 contributions since it started in October, with the average being under $24.

McConnell is running for reelection to a seventh term in the Senate. Democrats hope his perennially low approval ratings could make him vulnerable even after Trump easily won the state in 2016.

McConnell has generally easily won reelection, though he's viewed as a prime target by national Democrats because of his position as the Senate GOP leader

McConnell faced a high-profile GOP primary challenge in 2014 but defeated Matt Bevin, now the state's governor, by roughly 25 percentage points. National Democrats also lined up behind Alison Lundergan Grimes, who McConnell defeated by nearly 16 percentage points.

McConnell hasn't yet released his second quarter fundraising numbers. He raised roughly $2.1 million during the first quarter of the year.