Newcomer raises $1.1M for Senate race

BOSTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A political newcomer says his campaign to win Massachusetts Democratic U.S. Senate nomination has collected $1.1 million in just a week.

City Year co-founder Alan Khazei says he senses an undertone when he talks to people that they think he can't win because he lacks the name recognition needed to raise money, the Boston Globe reported Friday.

"What this will show is, wait a minute, maybe the conventional wisdom isn't right," Khazei says.

The race to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy pits newcomer Khazei against more established competitors like Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass, and Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca.

Coakley announced Thursday she had raised more than $2.1 million while Capuano's campaign said he raised more than $300,000 in the past two weeks and currently has $1.1 million in his account.

Pagliuca has raised more than $200,000.