U.S. Rep. Martha McSally took in nearly $3.4 million in campaign donations during the first three months of 2018, out-raising all of her Republican rivals in the race for Jeff Flake’s Senate seat.
The two-term House Republican also brought in more cash than her possible Democratic rivals, including the only other member of the Arizona congressional delegation in the race, U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.
McSally, who formally entered the race in mid-January, had nearly $2.6 million on hand at the end of March, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings.
The retired Air Force colonel has a track record for raising funds, with a large national network of donors who have helped raise millions of dollars for her campaigns. In her 2016 re-election bid for her Congressional District 2 House seat, McSally received nearly $8.4 million in donations.
But McSally’s campaign also outspent all of her Republican rivals as well, spending nearly $800,000 in the last three months to staff her fledging Senate campaign and outreach to donors.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, himself once a fundraising powerhouse in Arizona politics, came in a distant second to McSally when it came to fundraising on the GOP side, bringing in $503,191 in his run for the open Senate seat.
Arpaio, who also announced in January, spent nearly half of what he raised on campaign-related expenses.
At the end of March, the presidentially pardoned ex-sheriff reported having $254,939 in his campaign coffers.
Former state Sen. Kelli Ward — best known for challenging Sen. John McCain for the Republican nomination in 2016 — brought in $467,060 in donations between January and March in her second run for a Senate seat.
Ward has spent the most time on the campaign trail of the Senate GOP candidates, signaling back in late 2016 that she would challenge Flake, who has since decided not to run for another term.
Her camp spent $384,510 on campaign expenses during the same period, leaving her treasury with $432,553.
Sinema leads Democrats
Sinema, a Phoenix Democrat who announced last fall she would run for Senate, nearly rivaled McSally in the amount raised from individuals — about $1.9 million compared to McSally’s roughly $2.1 million.
However, McSally’s reports includes about $1 million transferred in from another authorized campaign, according to FEC records.
A McSally spokesperson did not respond to repeated calls seeking clarification on the secondary campaign, which is presumed to be a transfer from her now ended House re-election campaign.
In total, Sinema raised about $2.5 million in the last three months, with various political action committees giving her campaign a total $243,750.
Sinema, however, has a massive war chest ahead of the race, with $6.7 million in her campaign checkbook, according to FEC filings.
Her Democratic rival, lawyer Deedra Abboud reported taking in $33,736 in donations from individuals and had $16,424 cash on hand at the end of the quarter.
The party primaries in Arizona are Aug. 28.
