Republicans fundraising rivals Democrats for midterm congressional races

[Valin]

Washington Post:

T.W. Farnam and Aaron Blake
July 17, 2010

In a reversal of fortune, Republican candidates for key House and Senate races raised more money than Democrats in the second quarter of this year, according to financial reports filed late Thursday night.
The reports show that Republicans will have the money to compete in the fall elections, coming back from a severe shortage during the last election cycle. However, Democrats still have significantly more money in the bank than Republicans.

Republican House candidates raised $86.4 million last quarter, an increase of 25 percent over the first three months of the year. Democrats running for the House were able to close some of the gap from the first quarter, increasing their totals by 30 percent to $78.7 million. During the second quarter of the 2008 election year, Democratic House candidates raised 27 percent more than Republicans. This time, the GOP has brought in 10 percent more than Democrats.

For the Senate, Republicans out-raised Democrats in all but one of the 13 races to fill seats left open by retirements or primaries. In Ohio, former George W. Bush Cabinet official Rob Portman raised $2.7 million compared with Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher's $1 million. In Missouri, Rep. Roy Blunt raised $2.2 million compared with Democrat Robin Carnahan's $1.5 million. And in Pennsylvania, former representative Pat Toomey ® raised $3.1 million compared with Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak's $2 million.
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