Rosen raises more than $3.5 million over second quarter of 2018, has $3.8 million in the bank
Congresswoman Jacky Rosen raised more than $3.5 million over the last three months and ended June with more than $3.8 million in the bank in her bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, according to early fundraising totals released by her campaign.
Rosen’s $3.5 million fundraising total includes more than $2.1 million raised between May 24 and June 30, the period after books closed ahead of the primary election. This quarter’s haul dwarfs what the Democratic congresswoman raised in the first quarter of the year by about $900,000, though Rosen has only increased her cash on hand by about $300,000, meaning that she has spent about $3.2 million over the last three months.
The majority of that money was spent on media buys, including both on television and on digital platforms. Rosen went up on television in April and has released a total of six ads in English and Spanish over the last few months backed by both five- and six-figure buys.
“The support and enthusiasm for our campaign to flip this Senate seat have been unbelievable, and it’s helping bring us that much closer to a win in November,” said Rosen’s campaign manager Danny Kazin.
A spokesman for Heller declined to provide The Nevada Independent with a copy of the Republican senator’s second quarter fundraising totals. Heller reported raising a little over $1 million on his pre-primary fundraising report, which covers the period between April 1 and May 23, and raised about $1.1 million over the first three months of the year. Heller had about $4.9 million saved in the bank ahead of the primary election.
Rosen’s campaign said that her fundraising total “appears to have set a record for the most raised in the second quarter of an election year for a U.S. Senate race in Nevada.” U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto brought in about $2.9 million over the second quarter of 2016, while her opponent, then-Congressman Joe Heck, brought in about $1.8 million over the same time frame.
In his 2012 U.S. Senate race, Heller raised about $1.2 million in the second quarter while his opponent, then-Congresswoman Shelley Berkley brought in about $1.5 million. Former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid received $2.4 million in the second quarter of his 2010 re-election bid against Republican Sharron Angle, who raised $2.6 million over the same period.
Rosen has received more than 165,000 donations over the last year, according to her campaign. Of those received this quarter, 96 percent totaled $100 or less and the average contribution was $40.
Rosen raised $240,000 in the first quarter of 2017 and $310,000 in the second, which stretched through the end of June, before announcing her Senate campaign at the beginning of July. She raised $1.2 million in the third quarter of the year and a little less than $1.6 million in the fourth. By comparison, Heller raised $1.4 million in the first quarter, $1.4 million in the second quarter and $1.2 million in the third quarter and $800,000 in the fourth quarter.
Disclosure: Shelley Berkley has donated to The Nevada Independent. You can see a full list of donors here.