Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken will report raising $1.97 million in the last three months and more than $3 million cash in the bank, according to his campaign.
His significant haul shows he is gearing up for a tough fight ahead. He won his last election by just a few hundred votes and Republicans are priming to take him down next year.
According to his campaign, he had nearly 30,000 donors, many of them first time donors, in the last quarter with 97 percent giving $100 or less.
When Franken, a radio host, comedian and author before he entered politics, first ran his contest with then U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, broke all previous spending records for Minnesota candidates.
Republican Mike McFadden, a Franken challenger who began running last month, will report raising $700,000 in his first campaign finance report, according to his campaign.
Republican state Rep. Jim Abeler, another challenger, has yet to report any fundraising numbers. His campaign registration only just arrived at the Federal Election Commission.
State Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, has also said that she is seriously considering a bid against Franken and has begun sending out missives with a "Team Julianne" logo. She has not yet officially launched a bid.
