Washington – Sen. Richard Blumenthal has raised more than $7 million for his re-election effort, outpacing his GOP rival, state Rep. Dan Carter, who has raised $85,517, the latest filings with the Federal Elections Commission show.
Carter also loaned his campaign $20,000.
The filings with the FEC also show that Blumenthal, a Democrat, has spent more than $2 million on his campaign already, while Carter has spent less than $36,000.
Blumenthal’s filing had not yet been posted publicly by the FEC Tuesday afternoon.
Some of Connecticut’s GOP establishment has rallied around Carter’s candidacy. Recent donors to his campaign include several fellow GOP lawmakers and other top state Republicans. They include GOP National Committeewoman Patricia Longo and state Reps. Art Linares, John Shaban, George Betts and Terrie Wood.
Chris Healy, former Connecticut GOP party chairman, also supported Carter’s campaign, as did former Connecticut House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero and Robert Ferguson, a fundraiser for the National Rifle Association.
Blumenthal has raised millions of dollars from individuals who live both inside and outside Connecticut. He raised more than $33,000 from attorneys working for the law firm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, who are representing a group of families who lost children or other relatives in the Sandy Hook Elementary School slayings and are suing the makers of the semi-automatic rifle used by shooter Adam Lanza.
Blumenthal has introduced legislation that would strip gun makers of some of the liability protection Congress has given gun manufacturers, making it easier to sue them.
Blumenthal’s campaign ended the reporting period on June 30 with $5.3 million in cash on hand, while the Carter campaign reported having $69,540 in its war chest.