BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu continues to outraise her nearest competitor in Louisiana’s Senate race.
Landrieu’s campaign announced Monday that she raised more than $1.8 million during the most recent fundraising period that ran from January through March. The Democrat, who is running for a fourth term, reports having $7.5 million on hand in her campaign account for the re-election bid - $3 million more than she had at the same point during her 2008 campaign.
The senator’s main challenger, Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, said he will report to the Federal Election Commission that he raised more than $1.2 million for the same quarter and has more than $5 million in the bank.
But the advertising battle won’t come down to simply their campaign accounts. Millions of dollars in outside money has poured into Louisiana, spent on attack ads mainly against Landrieu so far.
Much more is expected to flow into the state in advance of the Nov. 4 election.
Landrieu’s campaign referenced the ads while celebrating the latest fundraising haul.
“Thanks to our network of grassroots donors, we’re in a strong position to fight back against out-of-state billionaire special interests,” the senator’s campaign manager Adam Sullivan said in a statement.
Cassidy, meanwhile, described his fundraising as the strongest donation period to date. His campaign noted the Republican congressman has raised more than Landrieu’s last GOP challenger, state Treasurer John Kennedy, did during his entire campaign for the 2008 race.
“We have received incredible support from people throughout Louisiana. This support reflects a strong desire to change the direction in Washington,” Cassidy said in a statement.
At least two other Republicans have said they plan to run for the Senate seat: state Rep. Paul Hollis and retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness. Maness, who is backed by tea party organizations, said he raised $405,000 in the latest quarter.
“I’m thrilled with our fundraising efforts,” Maness said in a statement. “I announced my candidacy in 2013 without a penny in the bank and without any commitments of support from the well-connected and deep-pocketed establishment PACs. Despite that, I’ve now raised almost $750,000.”
Hollis hasn’t reported his fundraising figures, which are due to the FEC by April 15.
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