Locked in a fierce U.S. Senate race, Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman together raised more than $7 million in the third quarter of the year, with the challenger pulling in nearly two-thirds of it.
Franken raised more than $4.4 million in the period that ended Sept. 30, and Wednesday reported having $2.8 million to spend in the crucial final weeks of the campaign.
Coleman raised $2.9 million but has more -- nearly $4 million -- left to spend from now until election day.
For the entire election cycle, Coleman has reported raising just over $17.9 million and Franken $15.9 million.
Steven Smith, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on Congress, cited several reasons for the big numbers.
"There is a great deal of interest in this because it's a close race, both parties think it's winnable and both parties despise the candidate on the other side," Smith said. "That makes it easy to raise some money within the state and across the country."
Smith also said Franken's fundraising lead in the third quarter can be explained in part by Coleman having plenty of cash in hand for the final weeks and therefore needing to spend less of his time raising money.
Most of Franken's money came in during the last six weeks of the quarter, when both sides ramped up negative television ads that included Coleman spots characterizing Franken as lacking the proper temperament for the office.
