McGrath and McConnell even in campaign cash heading into Kentucky Senate election
After a competitive Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Democratic nominee Amy McGrath and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have roughly the same amount of money heading into the general election.
McConnell’s campaign raised $4.99 million in June, for a total of $37.9 million. The campaign has spent a little less than two thirds of that money and has $16.6 million on hand.
That’s around $400,000 more than McGrath has on hand after a tight primary campaign where she had to spend millions to fend off a surging Rep. Charles Booker.
McGrath has repeatedly raised more money than McConnell over the course of the campaign, including $6.15 million between June 4 and June 30 that brought her total to $47.29 million since she started running a little more than a year ago. But she has burned through the money quickly.
Between June 4 and June 30, McGrath reported spending $9.2 million. Booker, who did not start raising large amounts of money until late in the campaign, spent $3.7 million in the same time period. His campaign raised a total of $4.8 million over the course of the campaign.
McConnell did not have a competitive primary, but has still spent around $28 million on the election so far, including $3.7 million in June. Much of that money has been spent targeting McGrath.
“Each quarter brings a new fundraising record for Team Mitch thanks to the tremendous grassroots support from across the Bluegrass,” said Kevin Golden, McConnell’s campaign manager. “Chuck Schumer and the Washington Democratic establishment are pouring millions of dollars into Amy McGrath’s doomed campaign, but no amount of money can buy McGrath the support of a majority of Kentuckians.”
“After 35 years of Mitch McConnell putting partisan politics and special interests ahead of doing what’s right, Kentuckians - especially the one million who have lost work at some point during this crisis - are outraged by Mitch’s repeated failed leadership and are demanding change,” said Terry Sebastian, McGrath’s spokesman. “Our latest fundraising numbers show a strong and growing grassroots movement for retired Marine Lt. Col. Amy McGrath and her proven leadership that Kentucky and the nation so desperately need.”
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 9:28 AM.
