JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Missouri has raised far more money than her Republican opponent in what may be the state's priciest such race.
Claire McCaskill raised more than $2.3 million during the first three weeks of October, while Matt Blunt raised more than $750,000 during the same period, the Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday.
McCaskill now has about $5.3 million in receipts, compared with about $2 million for Blunt. Much of McCaskill's fund-raising advantage over Blunt appears to be due to large contributions from political party sources, the newspaper said.
But Blunt has $500,000 in cash on hand, compared with more than $268,000 for his balance.
The combined $7.3 million raised for this general election breaks the previous record of more than $4.4 million in contributions to Gov. Bob Holden and Republican candidate Jim Talent in 2000.
So far, Blunt and McCaskill have spent a combined $9 million, compared with the nearly $11 million spent by Talent and Holden in 2000.
But the Blunt and McCaskill general election spending doesn't include the more than $8.5 million the two politicians spent during the primary election campaign.
