Bollier shatters fundraising record in historically expensive Kansas race for Senate
Kansas Democrat Barbara Bollier’s campaign for U.S. Senate raised $13.5 million from July through September, her campaign announced Monday.
It’s an unprecedented three-month fundraising haul for a candidate in Kansas, more than triple what Bollier raised the previous quarter, which was already a record amount.
By comparison, Bollier’s three-month total surpasses the cash raised in 2014 by Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and his independent challenger Greg Orman, who together collected more than $12 million in contributions.
Bollier has nearly $7.6 million cash on hand for the final month of her contest against Republican Rep. Roger Marshall to succeed Roberts.
The campaign said it received contributions from 364,878 donors with an average contribution $29.72, but it did not specify what percentage of those donors live in Kansas. The bulk of Bollier’s contributions in previous quarters have come from donors living outside of the state.
“I am proud of the grassroots campaign we have built with support from Democrats and Republicans, teachers and farmers, and folks from Liberal to Leavenworth. Kansans know that I am the only candidate in this race who will actually work across the aisle on issues that are important to them and their families,” Bollier said in a statement.
A Democrat has not won a Senate race in Kansas since 1932, but polls have shown a close race.
Bollier’s record-setting fundraising is part of a national trend as Democratic Senate candidates in Republican-leaning states have announced extraordinary cash totals ahead of the October 15 campaign finance filing deadline.
Democratic fundraising, already strong in a year the party hopes to win back the White House, has been buoyed in recent weeks by the furor over Senate Republicans’ push to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant after liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death before the November 3 election.
South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison announced he raised $57 million, a new national record, over three months for his challenge against South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Senate Judiciary chairman who will preside over confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s nominee, federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Marshall has leaned heavily into the fight over the court, last month calling it “a defining issue of this election.”
Marshall’s campaign declined to release his quarterly fundraising total Monday. The campaign will have to report it to the Federal Election Commission by Thursday. The GOP congressman has trailed Bollier in the previous quarters.
Shortly after Bollier’s total was announced, Donald Trump, Jr., the president’s oldest son, posted a fundraising plea to Twitter on behalf of Marshall’s campaign.
Both candidates are receiving support from super PACs and independent expenditure groups. Spending by outside groups in the primary and general election was roughly $29 million as of October 11, according to analysis for the Center for Responsive Politics.
That figure, which shatters previous records, will grow as Election Day approaches.
The top spender so far has been the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, which has spent more than $10 million in support of Marshall.
The Senate Leadership Fund has run ads attacking Bollier’s support for a red flag bill, which would allow police or family members to seek a court order to remove firearms from a person they believe poses an immediate threat to themselves or others.
Marshall’s campaign circulated a video Sunday of Bollier praising Australian gun restrictions during an October 3 event in Olathe, which is likely a preview of the final round of attack ads in the race. Marshall’s campaign claimed Monday that Bollier’s release of her strong fundraising numbers was an effort to distract from the controversy.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Bollier shatters fundraising record in historically expensive Kansas race for Senate."
