Lunsford brings in $600K in 2Q; $1.3M on hand

Democratic Senate nominee Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville): Politicker photo

After a second quarter fundraising period split in half by the May 20 Democratic primary, U.S. Senate candidate and multi-millionaire businessman Bruce Lunsford (D-Louisville) will report $600,000 in contributions and $1.3 million on hand. Lunsford's 2Q receipts will total just short of $3.1 million, with $2.5 million of that amount coming from Lunsford's own pocket.

The numbers provide a contrast to last week's news from the camp of Lunsford's opponent, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville). Then, McConnell touted $9 million on hand and a $3 million second quarter.

Though official FEC reports are not yet available, if reports from both side are accurate, McConnell now holds $7.7 million more than Lunsford in cash-on-hand and outraised Lunsford by $2.4 million in the second quarter.

The second quarter accounts for the months of April, May, and June. During much of that period, Lunsford was embroiled in a contentious seven-candidate Democratic primary for which he invested a total of $2.1 million of his own money from January to May 20. About $1.5 million of that amount was spent in the second quarter and counts towards the $3.1 million in total receipts.

On June 27 of this year, Lunsford made his first personal expenditure for the general election in the amount of $1 million.

Lunsford collected about $600,000 in money from donors between April 1 and June 30. According to a report required by the FEC before the primary, $131,020 of that amount came in April - the last full calendar month before the May 20 election when Lunsford sealed the Democratic nomination.

Though contributions in the 2Q exceed the $277,085 collected in the first fundraising quarter, they still fall significantly short of the warchest McConnell has accumulated.

To this advantage, however, the Lunsford campaign takes exception. Noting that McConnell touted his $3 million second quarter as a fundraising "record," a Lunsford spokesperson targeted the source of the incumbent's money.

"Mitch McConnell has taken $650,000 from Big Oil and more than $817,000 from special interests representing big insurance companies, and that's just the tip of the iceberg," said Lunsford spokesperson Allison Haley in a statement released with the numbers. "The Senator is swimming in special interest cash, he's doing their bidding, and he couldn't be prouder of himself for it. This is a perfect example of how Washington is broken. Kentucky's working families cannot afford six more years of this kind of shameful and failed leadership."

McConnell has now collected a total of $15 million in campaign contributions in this election cycle.

Last week, Lunsford told WHAS-TV reporter Mark Hebert that such an amount was "obscene," and argued he would "hang it up" and quit the race if he had to raise such a sum to compete.

McConnell's campaign seized on that statement after today's figures were released by Lunsford. The announcement that Lunsford has now put $2.5 million into his run means the candidate surpassed the $15 million mark in all-time personal campaign spending.

"As in campaign's past, Bruce Lunsford's biggest fan is Bruce Lunsford. Bruce has now spent over $15 million of his own money trying to win elective office, which I believe is the monetary threshold he set for ‘hanging it up," said McConnell's campaign manager, Justin Brasell.

Lunsford spent more than $14 million in failed bids for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2003 and 2007.