Simmons, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, says he has brought in $631,359 from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. He has about $1.34 million on hand, according to a statement released by his campaign.
“With the support of over 12,000 donors contributing a record-breaking total of $2.3 million in just 9 months, Rob Simmons’ fundraising success is unparalleled for a Republican Senate candidate in Connecticut,” trumpets Raj Shah, Simmons’ spokesman.
Fourth quarter campaign finance reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by Jan. 31. Simmons released the total, but not the breakdown of who gave what.
The campaign says the average donation for the quarter is $168 and 98.1 percent came from individual donors; the remaining 1.9 percent came from political action committees.
Simmons’ 4th quarter haul is in line with what several other Republican Senate candidates have reported. For instance, Kelly Ayotte, a Republican from New Hampshire, raised $630,000, according to John DiStaso of The Union Leader.
In Colorado, Republican Jane Norton reported raising $550,000, according to the Denver Post.
Simmons will need every penny he raises. He is fighting fellow Republicans Linda McMahon and Peter Schiff. McMahon, a multi-millionaire, has said she could plow up to $50 million into her Senate bid.
Neither Schiff nor McMahon released their fundraising totals; their reports are not yet available on the FEC website.
“Having lived a life of service and sacrifice on behalf of America, Rob does not have tens of millions of dollars of his own money to spend on a political campaign, but his fundraising success and his big primary lead in all independent polling despite millions of dollars in uncontested advertising spending by his opponent demonstrates that he will have all the money he needs to fight and win the Republican nomination,” Shah said.
Simmons has yet to spend a single penny on television spots while McMahon has already launched several TV ad campaigns.