Candidates for Herb Kohl’s U.S. Senate seat announced 2011 fourth quarter fundraising earnings Tuesday, with sole Democratic challenger and current U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin leading the pack at $1.1 million.
Republican primary competitors, former governor Tommy Thompson and former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, raised around half of Baldwin’s funds, with each pulling in over $500,000.
With just one month to raise money, Thompson ended the fourth quarter with $656,504, slightly outpacing Neumann’s $518,000 earnings. Meanwhile, Speaker of the Assembly Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, trailed behind, raising less than $100,000 in the fourth quarter.
For Republicans hoping to get the four-seat edge needed to achieve a GOP senate majority, the race will be especially tight for Kohl’s seat, which Democrats have held for the past fifty years.
While the Thompson campaign touted its fundraising speed, Neumann campaign manager Chip Englander emphasized his candidate’s overall earnings—$820,000 since September—and Neumann’s credentials as “the most conservative candidate in the race.”
In a press release, Fitzgerald contended the race to the spring Republican primary was “a marathon, not a sprint,” and that he has “a youthful energy, the support at the grassroots level, and a record of conservative accomplishment” that he said his opponents couldn’t match.
Fellow primary competitor, State Sen. Frank Lassee, R-De Pere, suspended his campaign Sunday, saying it was “not the right time to run for the U.S Senate.”
As the U.S. Senate race continues, Madison Democrats hoping to fill candidate Baldwin’s vacant congressional seat also filed their reports Monday.
Dane County Treasurer Dave Worzala outraised his Democratic competitors, raising $223,140 in the fourth quarter, according to his campaign.
Trailing behind Worzala, State Rep. Mark Pocan pulled in $150,987, while Assembly colleague Kelda Roys raised $76,560, according to their respective campaigns.
The second congressional seat’s fourth Democratic candidate, UW-Madison graduate Matt Silverman, raised $6,235 in the fourth quarter, according to the Federal Elections Commission.
