U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill still doesn’t know who she’ll be up against in the 2018 midterm elections. She’s ready for the fight, however, having banked a little more than $5.1 million.
That’s almost twice the size of her campaign fund in July 2011, which was the last time she was preparing for a re-election contest.
Campaign finance reports are due Saturday, but the Missouri Democrat on Wednesday provided to St. Louis Public Radio copies of the summary sheets her campaign must file federally. McCaskill’s filings show that she has raised $3.18 million since April 1, most of it from individuals, and $8.26 million overall. She already has spent $3.5 million.
In July 2011, McCaskill had $2.8 million in the bank. But for the 2012 election, she raised and spent about $22 million in her successful battle against Republican Todd Akin, who was crippled politically by his comments about “legitimate rape.’
Then, as now, McCaskill was deemed among the most vulnerable Senate Democrats.
The Republicans haven’t announced who will take on McCaskill. U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, a Republican from Ballwin, was on a similar fundraising clip as McCaskill before announcing this month that she was forgoing a bid for the Senate and instead will try to keep her seat.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who took office in January, is being encouraged to challenge McCaskill. But any money in his state campaign accounts cannot be used for a federal contest.
Hawley spokesman Scott Paradise confirmed this week that Vice President Mike Pence is pushing for the first-term Republican official to run against McCaskill. Hawley has not said whether he’ll do so.Jason Rosenbaum contributed to this report.
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