Kirsten Gillibrand has brought in $2.3 million in an abbreviated first quarter of fund-raising activity for her 2010 campaign. The appointed senator boasted of her rake in an email that was ostensibly aimed at supporters but really directed at the media – and the ambitious Democrats who have been toying with the idea of challenging her in next year’s Democratic primary.
The $2.3 million figure seems impressive, although the more relevant cash-on-hand total is still unknown. At the very least, though, Gillibrand has given her prospective challengers something to think about – if she could raise this much in two months on the job, imagine how much cash she’ll have by next spring.
By comparison, Carolyn Mccarthy, the Long Island congresswoman who has publicly threatened a primary challenge to Gillibrand, had just $189,000 in her House account (money that could be used for a Senate campaign) at the end of last year, according to OpenSecrets.org; Carolyn Maloney, who is also interested in running, had $1.1 million while Steve Israel checked in with $1.7 million.
A Quinnipiac poll released this morning is mainly gaining attention because of the horrific numbers it found for David Paterson, but somewhat buried in the survey is a surprising finding: Carolyn McCarthy still enjoys a narrow lead – 33 to 29 percent – over Gillibrand in a prospective primary. Worth keeping an eye on.
