In the four-person race for the U.S. Senate seat in the Republican primary, Sen. John McCain has a multi-million dollar lead over his opponents.

Seeking his sixth term in the Senate, McCain raised slightly over $1.8 million between the beginning of April and the end of June, according to Federal Election Commission records.

McCain took in more than $1.2 million in individual donations and another $310,100 from political parties and political action committees. He had $5.8 million in his campaign coffers at the end of June.

His closest Republican rival, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, in the second quarter of 2016 raised $315,353 in individual donations, according to FEC records. This was an improvement over the previous fundraising period, in which she raised $178,836.

Ward is being targeted by third-party groups, including the Arizona Grassroots Action Political Action Committee, which have spent more than $1 million this year on negative ads.

The same group has released ads targeting Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, the sole Democrat in the statewide race.

Republican Alex Meluskey raised $14,839, according to his campaign finance report, and GOP candidate Clair Van Steenwyk did not submit any campaign finance reports, according to the FEC.

Kirkpatrick raised the most of all the candidates with $1.85 million in donations, primarily from individuals.

Her campaign war chest still had $2.4 million at the end of January.


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Contact Joe Ferguson

at 573-4197 or jferguson@tucson.com. On Twitter: @JoeFerguson.