Dem Meek Raises $1.1M In Florida Senate Race — But Will It Be Enough?

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL)
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The good news for Rep. Kendrick Meek? His fundraising prowess has not dropped off in the face of lagging poll numbers and a tough primary challenge. The bad news? That leaves him pretty much where he was before — namely, a distant third in the Florida Senate race.

Meek raised $1.1 million in the last fundraising quarter, essentially matching the amount he hauled in in the first quarter. This despite lousy poll numbers, a surprise primary and an independent — Gov. Charlie Crist — who’s doing his best to appeal to Democratic voters.

The Meek campaign says the numbers are a sign that rumors of Meek’s demise are greatly exaggerated.

“Momentum Growing for the Only Real Democrat in U.S. Senate Race,” the campaign declared in a release announcing the numbers this morning.

Over at the American Prospect, Tim Fernholz reports that some Democrats in Florida reject the idea that Crist is peeling away fundraising support from Meek. And the Meek campaign says its fundraising data proves the point.

And Meek still has big names (like Bill Clinton) behind him at the national Democratic Party level as well.

But Crist has pulled in support from national Democratic allies too. And he still has something Meek doesn’t when it comes to wooing Demcratic votes — poll numbers that suggest he could beat Republican nominee Marco Rubio in November. The current TPM Poll Average for the contest shows Crist and Rubio tied in the three-way Senate race (37.4-35.2). Meek trails with 13.6%.

Plus, as Politico‘s Shira Toeplitz notes, Meek’s impressive fundraising total ($7 million since the campaign began) still leaves him at a disadvantage to his wealthy primary opponent, investor Jeff Greene, who has already spent millions from his own pocket to blast Meek and shows no sign of catching a sudden case of frugality anytime soon.

Meek’s campaign has said from the beginning that it’s biding its time in the race, waiting until voters are paying more attention to go up on TV and drive up Meek’s name ID and — the campaign promises — his poll numbers. That’s certainly possible, and if Meek can beat back Greene (polls show there’s no guarantee that will happen) he could have a strong message appealing to his base as “the real Democrat” in the race.

But for now, even good news like today’s fundraising totals are likely not enough to raise Meek’s political fortunes. Not yet, anyway.

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