Democrat Tammy Baldwin is leading the money race for Wisconsin’s open US Senate seat. The Madison congresswoman raised almost $4.6 million dollars from July through September, while Republican opponent Tommy Thompson reportedly raised $3.6 million.
Thompson, a former governor, says his war chest went dry soon after he won a hard fought four-way GOP primary in August. Since then, he has raised $2.2 million. Baldwin raised about $3.6 million coming out of the primary, although she was running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Baldwin says she had about $3.5 million on hand as of October first, while Thompson had around $2 million.
The so-called “money race” among the candidates is not as important as it used to be, with outside groups now outspending the hopefuls several times over. A recent federal report found outside groups have spent $21 million on the Wisconsin Senate race, making it the second-highest among Senate contests in the country.