Money is pouring into the Kentucky Senate race from across the country in what some experts predict will be the most expensive election in U.S. history for a U.S. Senate seat.
The Courier-Journal of Louisville, KY, states that $37 million, or 85% of identified contributions has come from out of state.
McConnell, who started raising money shortly after his last re-election six years ago, is getting big money from the Washington network of PACs and lobbyists, Texas and New York.
A new McConnell ad tells the story of a Kentucky woman whose daughter was abducted in 2011 by her ex-husband and taken to Mali.
Grimes, who entered the campaign in July of last year, gets support from the California film industry, but also New York and Washington.
But the Courier-Journal analysis also showed some basic differences in the makeup of contributions supporting the two candidates:
• Grimes gets a higher percentage of her contributions — 24.5 percent — from inside Kentucky. Only about 12.2 percent of contributions for McConnell have come from people and PACs listing Kentucky addresses.
• Grimes gets much more in small contributions than McConnell. Her campaign has reported raising $3.6 million — more than 31 percent of her total — in contributions of $200 or less. McConnell has reported raising about $940,000 — or just 3 percent of his total — in contributions of $200 or less.
• McConnell gets much more from political action committees. Pro-McConnell political committees have reported $9 million in contributions this election cycle — nearly 30 percent of his total — from PACs. Pro-Grimes committees have gotten $1 million, or about 9 percent of their contributions from PACs.
Jonathan Hurst, manager of the Grimes campaign, said, “The contrast between the two campaigns couldn’t be clearer. Alison is running a strong grassroots campaign. Based on the numbers, you can see Sen. McConnell relies on millionaires and billionaires to fund his campaign.”
However, three major election models give McConnell a major edge – with his probability of winning ranging between 85 to 99 percent.
OK, Fine. 