Michelle Nunn needed a big fundraising quarter to show she hadn't lost momentum since entering the U.S. Senate race this summer. And it looks like she got it.
Her campaign told us tonight she raised more than $1.6 million in the last three months, and that about 80 percent of those donors gave less than $100. That comes on the heels of her $1.7 million take during the first three months of the campaign.
Nunn’s campaign said it's totaled some $3.3 million from more than 10,000 donors since she entered the race in July. The line-by-line details and cash-on-hand figures won’t be available until later this month, but we already know one of her most interesting donors is former U.S. Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican.
“This campaign is about doing things differently and the diverse group of people joining our effort proves it,” said Nunn, who said her supporters want to “replace the political bickering and gridlock in Washington with pragmatism and problem-solving.”
The report was important for two reasons. The first is to further underline her status as the frontrunner in her party's primary, a field that includes Dr. Branko Radulovacki and former state Sen. Steen Miles.
It also ratchets up the pressure on the crowded Republican field seeking to succeed Saxby Chambliss. The five high-profile contenders are jockeying with each other for big-money patrons and front-runner status, and Nunn's take could further jolt the field.
The news comes days after another Democrat, state Sen. Jason Carter, said he’s raised $1.3 million in his bid to oust Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Taken together, it shows that the Democratic powers-that-be are ponying up.
Of course, so are Republican powerbrokers. The GOP Senate candidates have already raised millions, and the eventual nominee is expected to have formidable national resources for a race that could cost more than $15 million.
Consider this telling line from Georgia Republican chair John Padgett, who often invokes Nunn and Carter at campaign stops across the state to urge donors to take out their checkbooks.
“I’m here to tell you this is not a purple state,” Padgett said to supporters at a recent event. “And the Georgia GOP is not going to fall down on its duty to you and the rest of the country and let this state turn into a purple state.”
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