The latest fundraising totals for the Democratic U.S. Senate candidates show U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy with a sizeable lead over his two opponents, former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. William Tong.
According information provided by the campaigns, Murphy $650,000, Bysiewicz raised $321,800, and Tong raised $155,000 in the third quarter.
At the end of the reporting period Murphy had more than $2 million cash on hand, Bysiewicz had $843,500, and Tong had $350,000.
“Of the contributions our campaign received this quarter, a full 86 percent were from Connecticut and 84 percent were $250 or less,” Murphy said. “I’m so grateful for the strong continued support from so many people across our state.”
Bysiewicz’s campaign countered by saying “Connecticut is a state where it is not about having the most resources it is about having enough resources to communicate.”
“With nearly $1.3 million total raised so far we are clearly on a path to have enough resources to communicate Susan’s message for the primary election,” Bysiewicz’s Campaign Manager Jonathan Ducote said in an email.
There was less good news for Tong to be enthusiastic about. With little name recognition statewide, Tong has the biggest uphill climb of all three of the candidates.
Tong, who had an impressive second quarter, downplayed the results of his fundraising efforts.
“When we launched this effort four and a half months ago, nobody thought we’d even come close to where we are today,” Tong said in a press release. “The hard working people of this state want their government to change. They want an end to the finger pointing and name calling and a renewed focus on restoring the economic vitality that has allowed so many stories like mine to come true.”