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Hillary raises 21m for senate bid { December 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/31/D8FFTQM00.htmlhttp://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/31/D8FFTQM00.html
Clinton Raises Over $21M for Senate Bid
Jan 31 4:57 PM US/Eastern
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton raised $21.4 million last year for her re-election campaign in New York and has $17 million in cash on hand, totals driven in part by her front-runner reputation if she decides to pursue the presidency in 2008.
The former first lady collected $6 million from 56,899 donors in the final three months of 2005, bringing her total to more than $21 million for the year, according to reports filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.
She spent about $9.3 million, leaving her with $17,101,626 and no major opposition in her bid for a second Senate term.
New York Republicans have struggled to mount a serious challenge to Clinton, and recent polls show her more than 25 points ahead of her nearest GOP rival. Then-Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro abandoned her bid after several stumbles; Edward Cox, son-in-law of President Nixon, said he would pass on the race despite GOP appeals.
Clinton's fundraising totals and her poll numbers make her the early favorite among potential Democratic candidates for the White House in though she repeatedly insists she isn't thinking beyond the Senate race.
Former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer, one of two lesser-known Republicans challenging Clinton, raised $571,000 and ended the year with $243,000 in cash on hand.
Other Senate incumbents and their challengers nearly matched each other dollar for dollar in fundraising for this year's competitive races, with Republicans fighting to hold their majority against determined Democrats.
The Senate breakdown is 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one Democratic-leaning independent.
In Missouri, where polls show a close race, Democrat Claire McCaskill, the state auditor, raised $915,000 at the end of 2005 for her Senate campaign as she tried to keep pace with incumbent freshman Republican Sen. Jim Talent, whom she wants to unseat.
That was close to the $1.1 million Talent raised in the same three- month period, but McCaskill's overall cash on hand _ about $1.26 million _ remains well short of the $4.66 million Talent has in the bank.
Recent polls in Missouri show the candidates in a virtual dead heat less than 10 months before the Nov. 7 election.
One of the most competitive Senate races is in Pennsylvania, where Sen. Rick Santorum, a member of the Republican leadership, trails his Democratic rival, Bob Casey Jr., in several polls. Santorum raised $2.5 million during the final three months of 2005, and he ended the year with $7.8 million in cash. About $100,000 of that came from two December fundraisers that Santorum held with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Figures for Casey were not immediately available.
In Montana, Republican Sen. Conrad Burns raised $813,956, bringing his total for the period to $4.8 million. He had $3.4 million on hand at year's end.
Democrats have targeted Burns for his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and Burns has already run ads defending himself. One of the Democrats vying to unseat him, State Auditor John Morrison, has raised more than $1 million, with $406,984 raised during the last quarter.
Tuesday was the deadline for candidates to report to the FEC their fundraising totals for the three-month period. The numbers were examined closely not only for candidates' viability in 2006, but also the status of potential 2008 presidential candidates in the Senate.
Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia raised slightly more than $6.82 million in 2005. He has $6.2 million for his Senate re-election campaign in a race the freshman lawmaker is expected to win easily.
Allen's PAC, Good Government for America committee, raised just over $265,519 for the year and had slightly more than $178,000 in the PAC account at the end of 2005.
Senators can transfer money from their campaign accounts to use as seed money for a presidential bid.
McCain, another potential presidential candidate, raised more than $2.3 million for the year for his Straight Talk PAC. He has $1.3 million on hand. McCain, who was re-elected in 2004, raised about $130,000 for the year through his Senate campaign committee and has $1.1 million in that account.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., raised $2.6 million for his Senate re-election committee and had just over $2.5 million at year's end. His political action committee, UniteOurStates, raised $539,000 for the year and had just over $240,000. Biden, who is up for re-election in 2008, has talked about a White House bid.
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Associated Press Writers Will Lester, Sam Hananel, Kimberly Hefling and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
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