Gallego raised $10.4M for Arizona Senate race

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego raised a whopping $10.4 million for his Arizona Senate bid in the second quarter.

That’s his largest quarterly fundraising total this cycle and brings his total raised to $31 million, according to numbers shared first with POLITICO. Gallego ended June with $9.2 million in cash on hand.

Gallego is battling Republican Kari Lake for retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat. Gallego is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination in this month's primary, while Lake is the heavy favorite in the GOP race.

Nearly 50 percent of Gallego’s 119,000 donors were giving to his bid for the first time, a statistic the campaign pointed to as a sign of momentum. And 95 percent of donations were $100 or less.

Democrats have felt increasingly optimistic about their odds in Arizona, especially with Lake as the likely Republican nominee. She struggled to court independents and moderates in her 2022 gubernatorial campaign, though the Senate GOP campaign arm announced last month that it plans to purchase air time to support her.

Gallego has so far outraised Lake each quarter. In the first three months of the year he raised $7.5 million to Lake’s $3.6 million. Their reports are due to the Federal Election Commission on July 15.