Candidates for retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman’s seat stumbled all over themselves Friday afternoon putting out the latest numbers on their fundraising efforts.
Republican Linda McMahon tweeted that she raised $172,390 in the first three months of this year. In addition, she’s loaned her campaign another $965,000. That means McMahon has invested more than $1.7 million so far in her second try for the Senate.
McMahon also reported having $184,906 in cash-on-hand as of March 31. That means she spent more than $1 million on her campaign in the last three months — and television advertising, which usually is a campaign’s biggest expenditure, hasn’t even started.
McMahon’s spending also means she starts the quarter with less money in the bank than her rivals — not necessarily a problem for a candidate who can self fund a campaign.
State Rep. William Tong, a Democrat, said he raised $185,210 in the first quarter of this year and had $226,848 in cash on hand.
Although Tong’s campaign reported raising more than $1 million, his campaign manager, Marc Bradley, called him an “underdog.”
“And that is exactly what our state needs right now,” Bradley said.
Former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, a Democrat, reported raising $361,818 in the first quarter and had more than $1 million in cash on hand.
“Our fundraising quarter ensured that we will be able to communicate with primary voters,” said Jonathan Ducote, Bysiewicz’s campaign manager.
Former Rep. Chris Shays, a Republican running for Lieberman’s seat, will release information about his fundraising Monday, said campaign spokeswoman Amanda Bergen.
The latest campaign finance reports must be mailed to the Federal Election Commission by April 15 and most will be made available to the public next week.
Details of the Senate candidate’s fundraising — and spending — will be available then.
Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, another contender for Lieberman’s seat, released some information about his campaign cash on Thursday. His campaign said Murphy had raised $855,000 in the first quarter. Having raised $4 million since he began his campaign, Murphy had nearly $3 million in cash on hand on March 31, his campaign said.
On Friday, Murphy mocked McMahon’s tweet which thanked the 1,024 donors who contributed to “Team Linda” this year.
“Team Murphy had more contributors just in the last 7 days of March,” Murphy tweeted.