AUGUSTA — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins will report that she raised more than $2 million in the second quarter of 2019, bringing her total raised for this campaign cycle to $6.45 million.
The amount raised by Collins is already more than she collected during the entire 2014 election cycle, according to a statement Monday from her campaign staff.
Collins handily won re-election in 2014, beating Democratic challenger Shenna Bellows, by winning more than 68 percent of the vote statewide.
“This is the first time we have passed the $2 million mark for a quarter,” Amy Abbot, the campaign’s finance director, said in a statement ahead of the Federal Elections Commission filing due on Monday. “We are blessed to have an incredibly dedicated team of volunteers and supporters who made this record-breaking quarter possible. We simply could not have done this without their help.”
Democratic challengers Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport and progressive activist and lobbyist Betsy Sweet of Hallowell filed their campaign finance reports Monday night.
Gideon collected $1,059,350 and spent $140,214 leaving her with $919,135 cash on hand. Sweet raised $80,745 and spent $23,061, leaving her with $57,683.
Derek Levasseur of Fairfield, who is challenging Collins in the Republican primary, was the first Maine candidate to officially file his finance report with the FEC ahead of the 11:59 p.m. deadline Monday.
Levasseur raised $6,755 and had spent $9,181, leaving his campaign in debt to the tune of $2,426.
Also filing early was Bre Kidman, an attorney from Saco running in the Democratic Senate primary. Kidman’s report showed the campaign had collected $11,383 and spent $6,039 for the filing period, which covers April 1 to June 30, leaving Kidman with cash on hand of $5,344.
All of the U.S. congressional campaigns have Monday filing deadlines, including not only the 2020 Senate race in Maine but also the campaigns for the state’s two House seats.
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