Fundraising in Maine’s closely watched U.S. Senate race tops $41 million

Democrat Sara Gideon raised an additional $1.2 million in the final six days of June, while Republican Sen. Susan Collins reported $600,000 in donations.

Together, the two candidates have raised more than $41 million for a race that is expected to be one of the most closely watched and expensive U.S. Senate contests in the country. With control of the Senate potentially in the balance, donations from outside Maine are flooding into Gideon’s and Collins’ campaign coffers in record amounts even as national political action committees pour millions more into the race.

Gideon, Maine’s House speaker and the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary, had raised $24.2 million through June 30, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission late Wednesday night. The report, which only covered the final six days of the month, showed the Democrat collecting $1.2 million in additional donations to bring her total for the quarter to slightly below $9.4 million.

Collins, by comparison, raised $3.6 million for the quarter beginning April 1 and ending June 30. including just over $600,000 in the final six days. The Republican, who is seeking a fifth, six-year term in the Senate, reported raising a total of $16.9 million for the election cycle to date.

Lisa Savage, a Green Independent Party member from Solon who is running as an independent, has reported raising more than $92,000 for her campaign. Max Linn of Bar Harbor, who sought the Republican nomination for Senate in 2018 but is running as an independent this year, has not filed any campaign finance reports with the FEC.

Gideon had raised more than all but five other Senate candidates nationwide as of June 24, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. Collins ranked 11th on the list of Senate candidates in the 2020 election cycle.

Despite Gideon’s fundraising advantage, the two candidates ended the reporting period with roughly the same amount of “cash on hand” – $5.4 million for Gideon versus $5.6 million for Collins – because Gideon campaign has spent $6 million more than the incumbent’s.

Gideon cruised to victory over opponents Betsy Sweet and Bre Kidman in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, capturing roughly 70 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. Although House speaker for the past four years, Gideon now must build positive name recognition statewide in the face of withering attack ads from Republicans and win over independents who have supported Collins in the past.

Collins, meanwhile, is a formidable campaigner who has cultivated a reputation as a moderate deal-maker in Washington. But she likely faces her toughest re-election challenge as the number of registered Democrats in Maine swells and critics portray her as being too closely aligned with the Republican party’s conservative leadership and President Trump.

The 2020 Senate race is, by far, the most expensive campaign in state history. Outside organizations, such as the national party committees and super PACS run by ideological groups, have already funneled more than $15 million into the race with much more coming.

The $24.2 million raised by Gideon includes $23 million from individuals, $378,500 from PACs and $850,000 from committees authorized to raise money for the campaign. Collins raised $12.8 million of her $16.9 million from individuals while receiving $2.9 million from PACs and $1.1 million from authorized committees.