Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is breaking fundraising records for the 2020 reelection, but the GOP chief continues to be surpassed by would-be Democratic challenger Amy McGrath.

McConnell's money machine didn't let a global pandemic stop it from raking in $7.4 million during the first quarter, which is his largest haul during a three-month period since coming to Washington in 1985.

“Team Mitch had a record-breaking start to 2020 with our highest fundraising quarter in history," McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden said in a statement, "and the most-ever cash on hand for any campaign in Kentucky’s history."

As of Tuesday, McConnell has scooped up approximately $25.6 million toward the 2020 reelection cycle and has a healthy $14.8 million on hand now.

But McGrath busted McConnell's bubble when her campaign told The Courier Journal the retired Marine fighter pilot raised a whopping $12.8 million during the same period.

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The McGrath campaign has raked in about $29.8 million in total since she entered the race last July. She has also matched McConnell in terms of money in the bank with $14.7 million on hand, according to campaign spokesman Terry Sebastian.

"What our numbers show is that voters are fed up with Mitch McConnell continually putting corporate handouts ahead of working people," he said.

These new figures indicate Kentucky will once again be one of the nation's more expensive Senate races in 2020.

McConnell has been a prolific fundraiser since he was Jefferson County judge-executive, and part of his legacy will be redefining federal campaign finance laws that successfully argued such gifts equal free speech.

But now, as the most consequential Republican in Congress, that money machine has become even more formidable.

McConnell is outpacing fundraising benchmarks set by his last reelection bid in 2014, when he was Senate minority leader. At this same point during the last cycle, for example, he reported having $10.3 million on hand.

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The GOP leader will need every dime, however, if McGrath comes out of the crowded primary as the Democratic nominee. She has created her own money juggernaut fueled by Democratic antipathy toward McConnell, who has blocked progressive legislation from getting through the Senate.

McConnell raised $4.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 and started 2020 with $11.5 million in the bank. But McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, announced she had collected about $6.2 million in the last three months of 2019, with about $9.1 million on hand.

McGrath has boasted that her ability to keep up with McConnell dollar for dollar makes her the best candidate in the crowded Democratic primary field to win in November. Her opponents, however, maintain Democrats need a nominee who contrasts with McConnell more on the issues.

Golden used the fundraising totals reported Tuesday to also push back on the narrative that McConnell bungled the beginnings of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S.

The GOP leader was able to get a historic $2 trillion relief package over the hill by a 96-0 vote, which is bringing valuable resources to the Bluegrass State.

"Kentuckians know that at a time of great consequence, there is no substitute for the proven leadership of Mitch McConnell," Golden said.

The unanimous vote came after major pushback from Senate Democrats, who argued McConnell's original plan cooked up with Republican committee chairs favored corporations over workers.

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McConnell was also pilloried by McGrath and others for taking a trip back to Kentucky for a special judicial swearing-in ceremony in March as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trump administration officials were negotiating a response to the global pandemic.

Sebastian, the McGrath campaign spokesman, said Tuesday the campaign's cash haul reflects how average Americans are "outraged" about McConnell's conduct surrounding the crisis.

"Folks know he’s been bought for the price of $1.6 million that Big Pharma has given him over his career," he said. "After 35 years of Mitch McConnell putting partisan politics and special interests ahead of doing what’s right for the country, working Americans don’t trust his leadership and are demanding new leaders like Amy McGrath who they know will have their back."

McGrath has continued to poke the senator in the eye, especially after McConnell suggested President Donald Trump's impeachment trial distracted federal officials from addressing the growing coronavirus crisis in China.

Golden, however, defended McConnell's record in securing valuable resources for small businesses, larger industries and individual Americans, "while Amy McGrath stood with Nancy Pelosi to urge further delay of relief in order to leverage left-wing priorities unrelated to the coronavirus."

The McGrath campaign shot back, saying McConnell was the one who "delayed COVID-19 relief funding for 48 hours so that his buddies in Big Pharma could price gouge us on vaccines."

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Reach Phillip M. Bailey at pbailey@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4475. Follow him on Twitter at @phillipmbailey.