California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore raised more than $330,000 in the third quarter as he continues his bid to prove he is the strongest Republican candidate to take on Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2010.
All told, the conservative state lawmaker has raised over $700,000, his campaign announced late Thursday night, saying he is "on track to pass the million-dollar mark before the end of the year."
Boxer has not yet disclosed her third quarter fundraising totals; she raised $2.4 million through the end of June and had $5.4 million in the bank. DeVore's likely GOP primary rival, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, has an exploratory committee, but has not opened a federal candidate fundraising committee that would require quarterly reporting.
DeVore's campaign has complained that Fiorina is skirting disclosure rules, but federal election law allows candidates to raise unlimited funds for "testing the water" activities as long as they do not explicitly say they are running for federal office or take actions to qualify for the ballot. The rules are murky and rarely enforced -- take former Sen. Fred Thompson, who raised millions while technically exploring a presidential run over a span of several months in 2007, prompting complaints but no repercussions.
Fiorina is expected to contribute her own personal wealth to her campaign, if she runs, as well, which could make her more competitive with Boxer.
The three-term Democrat outspent 2004 GOP opponent Bill Jones $14.9 million to $7.1 million, going on to win by 20 percentage points.
With that in mind, the national party has rallied to Fiorina's possible candidacy, but DeVore is looking like he will be difficult to brush aside. In addition to respectable financing, DeVore is also touting a recent Rasmussen Reports poll that showed him and Fiorina performing virtually identically against Boxer.
CQ Politics rates the general election contest Safe Democratic.
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