It was the first full campaign finance reporting period with both Kevin Nicholson and state Senator Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) in the race and Nicholson maintained his fundraising advantage in the GOP primary.
According to the Nicholson campaign, he raised $800,000 in the final quarter of 2017, bringing his campaign’s total to $1.2 million raised since his campaign started last July. The campaign still has $500,000 on hand, according to the campaign press release. The campaign also says that they raised money from 4,400 donors from all 72 Wisconsin counties.
Nicholson’s last quarter fundraising total was double that of Vukmir’s total. On Monday, the senator announced she raised more than $400,000, according to her campaign’s press release.
Neither candidate’s fundraising approaches what incumbent Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) has been able to raise. Baldwin hasn’t yet released her fundraising totals for the same period, but at the end of the prior period she had over $5.3 million on hand.
However, spending by outside groups supporting the Republican candidates has helped push the Wisconsin race to one of the top races to watch.
