The campaign of Democrat Patrick Murphy -- who hopes to take on Rep. Allen West in the 2012 election -- announced today that candidate Murphy has raised $1.1 million in his bid for the congressional seat.
Murphy, who raised more money in the first two quarters than any other congressional challenger in the country, says his campaign raised $313,000 for the third quarter, although Federal Election Commission reports for all candidates aren't due until the end of the week.
Last quarter, Murphy raised more than $450,000, higher than his Democratic opponent, Lois Frankel -- who raised more than $440,000 -- but well below the second-quarter haul of West, who raked in $1.5 million, according to FEC records.
In a statement from Murphy's campaign, they say the most recent quarter's fundraising total is due to some help from "key Democratic donors," including Democratic National Committee Finance Co-Chair Bob Crowe, Richard Swann, Stephen Bittel, Michael and Judy Adler, Alan Kluger, Mitchell Berger, and Chris Findlater.
Here's the rest of the release from the Murphy camp:
"In seven months, we've proven that this is a campaign that is going all the way," said Murphy. "We can't assume that Democrats are simply going to show up next year. We have to earn their vote by tirelessly advocating for the issues central to our recovery and health as a nation," said Murphy.
"Congress is in desperate need of people who understand financial statements and tax reform. There are currently only nine Certified Public Accountants in Congress. I will be the 10th. It is time to send people to Washington that have the skill set to solve our problems, not simply make talking points out of them," Murphy added.
As businessman and CPA, Patrick Murphy is a strong proponent of the middle class. He supports very targeted cuts to improve the efficiency of government and the closing of corporate tax loopholes and ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to bring more resources back home. He is staunchly pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and against the latest GOP-led attacks on health care reform and Medicare.
The race for Florida's 22nd Congressional District seat is already being predicted as one of the hottest contests in the nation in 2012, although we're still waiting to see how the maps from redistricting turn out.
West has not announced his fundraising totals for the third quarter.
Also, click here to see Murphy's database of West's history and Westisms.
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