Talent widens money lead over McCaskill

WASHINGTON -- Republican Sen. Jim Talent has expanded his lead over Democratic rival Claire McCaskill in the race for campaign cash, pulling in $2.2 million from April through June, new finance reports show.

McCaskill raised about $1.45 million over the same period, according to documents filed late Saturday with the Federal Election Commission.

Talent now has about $7.1 million in the bank to spend on television ads and other campaign expenses leading up to the November election. McCaskill has about $2.8 million cash on hand.

Gregg Keller, Talent's campaign manager, said the numbers show the incumbent "will have what is needed to communicate his record of effectiveness in working with Republicans and Democrats to change Washington for Missouri's commonsense conservative values."

Nearly half of Talent's total haul came from a single St. Louis fundraiser hosted last month by President Bush.

McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh called Talent's fundraising "a reflection of the Bush-Cheney big oil, corporate money machine that is dominating Washington. Missouri voters will get to decide if they want to continue with the status quo or if they've had enough and want real change."

McCaskill's largest single take in the three-month period was $70,000 from a fundraising dinner in April hosted by Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor and potential Democratic presidential candidate.

The candidates also ramped up their spending during the quarter, although neither has begun airing television ads. Talent spent about $770,000 over the past three months, while McCaskill spent about $721,000.

A first-term incumbent, Talent is locked in a tight race with McCaskill, according to recent polls. He defeated Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan in a special election in 2002 by less than 1 percent of the vote.

Democrats are targeting Talent and a handful of other GOP incumbents in their quest to retake control of the U.S. Senate.

McCaskill, the Missouri state auditor, lost the 2004 gubernatorial race to Republican Matt Blunt by 3 percentage points.

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On the Net:

Jim Talent: http://talentforsenate.com

Claire McCaskill: http://www.claireonline.com