In the first indication of her fundraising prowess, Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren dwarfed a Democratic rival and brought in double the sum raised by incumbent Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
Releasing their third-quarter fundraising results early, Mrs. Warren said she raised $3.15 million to the $1.55 million reported by Mr. Brown. The numbers add weight behind a poll released last week showing her in a virtual dead heat with the GOP rockstar three weeks after she declared candidacy.
The Harvard professor who served as President Obama’s consumer watchdog has quickly ascended to frontrunner in a race that holds large stakes for both parties, as Republicans seek to retain the seat that was held for decades by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
“Those are pretty amazing numbers,” Mr. Warren wrote in an email to supporters on Monday.
Liberal-leaning groups are lending Mrs. Warren a strong fundraising hand, with the Progressive Change for Campaign Committee raising more than $400,000 so far. Her campaign has recently topped donations on ActBlue — a website that raises money for Democrats — with some 30,000 donors contributing nearly $750,000.
But she’s still a long way away from the $10.5 million in the campaign coffers of Mr. Brown, who has been heavily supported by the financial sector.
“Scott Brown had another strong fundraising quarter and he will have the resources he needs to get out his strong pro-jobs message and run against whomever emerges as the Democratic nominee,” said John Cook, finance director for Mr. Brown’s campaign.
Mrs. Warren will face four other Democrats in the primary. Alan Khazei, co-founder of a national service organization, reported raising $365,000 in the third quarter. State representative Tom Conroy, attorney Marisa DeFranco and software engineer Herb Robinson have not yet released their fundraising totals.
