Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reported his best reelection fundraising period so far this cycle, announcing Monday that his campaign has raised $2.4 million since January, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
McConnell is working to survive a challenge from the right in businessman Matt Bevin and a general election opponent in Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D).
The senator spent cash quicker than he raised it in the last three months, however. He had $10.4 million in cash on hand at the end of March, which is $500,000 less than what he had at the start of the year. His campaign has brought in a total of $22.3 million this cycle.
The McConnell campaign told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the heavy spending came from investments for November's general election rather than for the primary against Bevin.
Campaign manager Jesse Benton said that the campaign "has been executing a comprehensive, long-view strategy on the ground, internet, mailboxes and airwaves to ensure victory in November."
The campaign also spent $840,000 on a statewide ad featuring a cancer survivor praising McConnell.
Grimes' campaign responded to McConnell's spending rate with the suggestion that "DC special interests are not getting their money's worth."
"With recent reports pointing out that Mitch McConnell's Washington-focused campaign is rusty, it's clear today that it's fully broken down," adviser Jonathan Hurst said in a press release sent Monday. "As this cycle's number one recipient of DC lobbyist cash, McConnell shockingly burned through 120 percent of his money raised this quarter. DC special interests are not getting their money's worth as recent public polls show McConnell trailing Alison Lundergan Grimes. Regardless of how much McConnell spends, Kentuckians know that Mitch McConnell continues to side with Washington over Kentucky."
Bevin announced Monday that he took in $1.1 million since January. Grimes has yet to announce her fundraising performance this quarter.
HuffPost Pollster, which combines all publicly available polling data, shows Grimes and McConnell in a virtual tie.
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