Money pouring into McCaskill campaign

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Once Claire McCaskill won the Democratic primary for governor, the money started rolling in.

Campaign finance reports released Thursday showed McCaskill raised $2.2 million between July 23 and Aug. 28. The primary was Aug. 3.

She had raised a total of $3.5 million before the latest report, nearly half of it from personal loans by her family. McCaskill reported no personal loans for this period.

Overall, she now has collected about $5.7 million.

Republican nominee Matt Blunt raised nearly $652,000 according to his report, for a total of $5.2 million. Blunt easily won his primary against several little-known opponents and didn't start running ads until after that election.

McCaskill campaign spokes-man Glenn Campbell said the report shows the Democratic Party has rallied behind McCaskill after her bitter primary battle with Gov. Bob Holden.

"This really is a good reflection of the kind of broad-based support that we've been bringing together over the last 30 days," he said. "It comes from all corners of the state. It is showing that the party is energized, that people have energized behind this campaign."

During the primary, Holden easily raised more money than McCaskill and benefited from the support of the Democratic establishment, including local party committees.

In all, he reported collecting $7.3 million in his failed bid for re-election.

Blunt spokesman John Hancock said he expected the surge in fund-raising for the Democratic nominee. He said he was confident because Blunt has a $187,000 advantage in cash on hand, money available to be spent.

"We're very gratified that our campaign is well-positioned to take our message to the people of Missouri and win this race," he said.

McCaskill spent heavily on advertising in the media -- $80,000 before the primary and $930,000 since. She also spent about $64,000 on mailings and $35,000 on media consultants days before the primary, and another nearly $9,000 since the primary.

In the past month, Blunt spent most of his money, $1.5 million, on media expenses, and $17,000 on polling.

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On the Net:

McCaskill: http://www.claireonline.com

Blunt: http://www.mattblunt.com