State Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) released her fundraising totals for the first quarter of 2018 on Friday, showing her behind again in fundraising compared to her rival for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, Kevin Nicholson.
According to a release from her campaign, Vukmir raised “nearly” $600,000 during the first quarter and has “about” $650,000 on hand.
“Unlike my opponents who are overwhelmingly funding their campaigns with support from the DC swamp, I am proud to report that 95 percent of the donors to our campaign are Wisconsinites,” Leah said. “My team and I continue to be overwhelmed by the homegrown, grassroots response to our campaign.”
Nicholson reported on Monday receiving over $1 million in the first quarter of 2018 and having over $800,000 on hand.
“Thousands of conservative donors, activists, and voters have entrusted us with this amazing outpouring of support. We’re using these funds to focus our campaign directly on defeating Tammy Baldwin in November,” said Nicholson in the Monday release. “Clearly, Wisconsinites want an outsider – and they’re ready to ‘Send in the Marine’ to fix Washington’s mess.”
The Nicholson campaign claimed over 8,000 Wisconsin donors from all 72 counties since their campaign began.
The Republican Primary is August 14, The winner of the GOP nomination will face incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November.
Both GOP candidates are substantially behind Baldwin in fundraising. Baldwin, considered to be one of the most vulnerable Democratic senators up for re-election this fall, raised more than $3.7 million in the first quarter, according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“Baldwin had more than $7.8 million cash on hand at the end of March — putting her far ahead of her GOP rivals,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. “Through last year, she had raised more than $13.7 million, according to federal records.”
