Mark Kelly announces quarterly take of $12.8M for Senate race

PHOENIX – Arizona fundraising juggernaut Mark Kelly announced a second-quarter haul of nearly $12.8 million for his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, whose April-June numbers are pending.

The likely Democratic candidate’s campaign said Tuesday it had nearly $24 million cash on hand through June after its best fundraising quarter and with four months to go until the general election.

(UPDATE: Later in the week, McSally reported a second-quarter take of about $9.2 million with just under $11 million cash on hand.)

Kelly’s campaign said 89% of its second-quarter contributions were for less than $100, and the average was about $44.

“We continue to be humbled by the hundreds of thousands of people chipping in whatever they can, because they want to see Mark Kelly’s experience and independent approach representing Arizonans — defending health care protections for those with pre-existing conditions and fighting for our state in the U.S. Senate,” Jen Cox, Kelly’s campaign manager, said in a press release.

Kelly has raised $44 million through June during this election cycle.

The Federal Elections Commission website is only updated through the first quarter of this year for Arizona’s Senate race. It has the most recent known fundraising data for McSally’s campaign.

According to the site, McSally raised about $6.4 million in the first quarter for a total of just under $19 million, and she had $10.3 million in cash on hand.

The FEC site showed Kelly with a first-quarter haul of $11 million for a total of more than $31 million, with $19.7 million in cash on hand.

Kelly, a former astronaut, has been leading McSally, a former Air Force pilot, in the polls, as well. OH Predictive Insights, a Phoenix research firm that’s been tracking the race, released polling this week showing Kelly up by 9 percentage points, although that was down from 13 points from May.

Democrats are targeting McSally’s seat, which was formerly held by the late John McCain, as a key prize in their attempt to take control of the Senate.

The Nov. 3 election is for the remainder of McCain’s term, which runs through 2022.

McSally was appointed to the seat by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in December 2018, a month after McSally lost the race for Arizona’s other Senate seat to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

Kelly isn’t facing any serious challenges in the Aug. 4 primary election, but conservative Valley businessman Daniel McCarthy is campaigning to replace McSally as the GOP candidate.

Early mail-in voting for the Arizona primary began July 8.

July 24 is the last day voters who aren’t on the permanent early voting list can request a mail-in ballot.

Mail-in ballots must be received at county elections offices by 7 p.m. on Election Day. July 29 is recommended as the latest day to get ballots in the mail.

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