Democrats stockpile money for Senate fights

Fredreka Schouten | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — At least seven Democratic incumbents and candidates in some of the nation's toughest Senate races collected $1 million or more during the July-to-September fundraising quarter as they stockpile cash for an election that will decide which party controls the chamber, newly released campaign figures show.

In one of the marquee Senate races of 2014, Kentucky's Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced Tuesday that she collected $2.5 million, outpacing the amount raised since July by her Republican opponent, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In North Carolina, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, collected nearly $1.9 million for re-election in a state that has turned control of the governor's office and the state Legislature to Republicans since Hagan was first elected to the Senate in 2008.

The early fundraising numbers demonstrate that "good candidates with strong campaigns can raise resources," said Matt Canter, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Republicans say their candidates will be competitive. "If you look across the spectrum, there aren't going to be any candidates hurting for money to spend," said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "We're pleased with where most of our candidates are."

Fundraising reports were due by the end of the day Tuesday.

The most closely watched contests of 2014 are in the Senate, where Republicans are likely to need a net gain of six seats to gain the majority in the next Congress. Political handicappers forecast that Senate control probably will be determined by the outcome of races in six states: Democratic-controlled seats in Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, along with Republican-held seats in Kentucky and Georgia.

The contests in conservative-leaning Louisiana and Arkansas are both rated toss-ups by the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report. The vulnerable Democratic incumbents in each reported seven-figure hauls during the third quarter of fundraising.

Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana raised nearly $1.4 million, nearly double the $700,000 collected by her Republican rival, Rep. Bill Cassidy. She ended September with nearly $5.8 million in cash reserves to Cassidy's $3.4 million.

In Arkansas, Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor and his Republican rival, Rep. Tom Cotton, each raised slightly more than $1 million in the July-to-September period and outside groups, led by the anti-tax Club for Growth Action, have spent more than $1 million in advertising to slam Pryor more than a year before the election.

Republicans had good news in Michigan where Republican Terri Lynn Land took in more than $2 million in the contest to fill the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Carl Levin. Half the total came from the candidate's personal funds. Rep. Gary Peters, a Democrat vying for the seat, raised $1 million.

In other key races:

•Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., raised $2.1 million. It's the third fundraising quarter in a row in which the former Saturday Night Live star has hit the $2 million mark. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Republican challenger who announced the biggest fundraising haul was finance executive Mike McFadden, who collected $700,000.

•In the contest to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Democrat Michelle Nunn raised more than $1.7 million from July through September in her first bid for elective office. Nunn, a non-profit executive and the daughter of former Democratic senator Sam Nunn, ended the quarter with more than $1.4 million in cash reserves.

A flock of Republican candidates are vying for their party's nomination in Georgia, but none raised as much as Nunn has from contributors during the third quarter. David Perdue, the former CEO of Dollar General, collected $810,000 and loaned his campaign $1 million. Like Nunn, Perdue has ties to a well-known Georgia politician: Former governor Sonny Perdue is his cousin.

Among other Republican primary contenders in Georgia, Rep. Jack Kingston, raised $800,000. Three other Republicans each raised roughly $300,000 during the July-to-September fundraising period.

Georgia hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2000.

•In another race involving a famous political clan, Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, raised $1 million, outpacing the $848,000 haul by Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi, the third-term Republican she is challenging for the GOP nomination. Wyoming is a solidly Republican state, and the winner of the primary is all-but-certain to prevail in 2014.

•In Iowa, Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, raised $900,000 in his bid to succeed retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, in one of several open seats Democrats are defending.

Nathan Gonzales, who analyzes congressional races for The Rothenberg Political Report, said Democrats may jump to an early financial advantage in states with competitive Republican primaries as GOP donors divide their support among several candidates or wait on the sidelines for a nominee to emerge. But "for the top 10 or so most competitive Senate races, there will be more than enough money on both sides," he said.

No other race is getting more attention than Kentucky contest, where McConnell, a five-term senator, faces a primary challenge from Matt Bevin, who has courted Tea Party support, and Grimes, who has won the support of prominent Democrats, including former president Bill Clinton in her quest to unseat the Senate's top Republican.

Bevin, a Louisville businessman, posted lackluster numbers in his third-quarter fundraising. His total receipts of $822,000 included $600,000 he loaned his campaign.

Grimes' haul exceeded the nearly $2.3 million McConnell reported raising during the same period. In a statement, Grimes senior adviser Jonathan Hurst said the fundraising demonstrates "overwhelming grass-roots momentum" behind the campaign.

Republicans cast it as underwhelming, given Grimes' heavy focus on fundraising since entering the race in July. Movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg helped collect $1 million for her campaign at a single event last month in Beverly Hills.

Grimes "had a bigger quarter, but she's in a much bigger race than anyone in the country," Gonzales said. "She has a long way to go."