Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL), the big frontrunner for this perennial swing state’s open Senate seat in 2010, has announced an astonishingly good fundraising quarter: $4.3 million raised in the time since he got into the race in early May.
Cash-on-hand figures won’t be available until the campaign officially files its quarterly report, which is due July 15. It’s also not known how much of that can be spent in the Republican primary, versus what must be reserved for the general election from maxed-out donors.
The initial reports had been that Crist would raise $3 million, about nine times more than his conservative primary challenger Marco Rubio’s. As it turns out, the actual advantage is more like a 12.6-1 ratio, further solidifying Crist’s momentum in this race.
