Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes are each declaring the upper hand after releasing their latest fundraising totals.
In her first quarter as a U.S. Senate candidate, the Grimes campaign is claiming she broke a Kentucky fundraising record, banking $2.5 million between July and September. In a news release, Team Alison touts that donations came from every Kentucky county and all 50 states, and the median contribution was $25.
“The record-breaking showing speaks to the overwhelming grassroots momentum behind Alison’s campaign and the fact that people across the political spectrum are tired of Mitch McConnell’s out-of-touch, failed leadership. Simply put, McConnell is not receiving a passing grade from Kentucky or this nation,” Grimes senior adviser Jonathan Hurst said. Grimes’ surpassed the nearly $2.3 million total reported last week by Senator McConnell. Campaign Manager Jesse Benton called it McConnell’s ‘strongest fundraising quarter to date.’ Team Mitch issued a statement calling Grimes’ fundraising report ‘mediocre.’
“Alison Lundergan Grimes had the red carpet rolled out for her in front of the national liberal elite in places like Hollywood, Martha’s Vineyard and Las Vegas and still came up far short of $7 million first quarter benchmark set by her own professional fundraising team” said Team Mitch press secretary Allison Moore. “It is clear that Alison Lundergan Grimes is not as popular as she’d hoped to be among Democrat donors.”
Grimes is the presumed Democratic nominee who will take on McConnell next November. The five-term incumbent must first win a GOP primary.
