Democrat Tom Udall raised $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2008 for his Senate campaign.
That’s more than the $1 million he raised during the fourth quarter of 2007 – an amount that beat the combined fourth-quarter fundraising totals of GOP Senate candidates Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson.
Pearce and Wilson have not released fundraising numbers for the first quarter of this year. Reports must be publicly filed by Tuesday.
“Thanks to your overwhelmingly generous support, we’re going to be reporting to the Federal Election Commission that we have raised $1.3 million in the first quarter of this year,” Udall Campaign Manager Amanda Cooper wrote in an early morning e-mail to supporters. “Yes, you read that right. Even Tom did a double-take when I told him last night.”
The e-mail provided no other details, including the all-important number of how much cash Udall’s campaign had on hand at the end of the March. At the start of the fundraising quarter, the campaign had more than $1.7 million in the bank.
“This race is far from over and we still have a lot to do,” Cooper wrote. “It is going to get very, very tough in the coming weeks and months, but I just wanted to make sure that you heard the news from us first, since you made it all possible.”
Pearce and Wilson are forced to spend much of their money on their tough primary battle.