Handel continues fundraising struggles

Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel (R) has continued her slow fundraising pace despite an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), a ton of earned media and a rise in the polls.

{mosads}Handel raised just $135,000 in April, according to pre-primary fundraising reports. At the end of the month, she had only $340,000 cash on hand as of the end of April — enough to run some TV ads but not enough to keep pace with some of her better-funded opponents ahead of the May 20 primary.

She’ll have some help, though: The American Future Fund is up with a new ad backed by a six-figure buy attacking the congressmen in the race and touting her candidacy.

Businessman David Perdue (R) brought in $220,000 and gave himself another $1 million (he’s up to $2.5 million overall in self-funding), leaving him with $450,000 in the bank with the ability to up that number whenever he feels like it.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) raised $290,000 in the period and has $1.3 million in the bank.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) brought in $140,000 and has $180,000 in the bank. Broun has struggled with fundraising from the start.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) hasn’t released his numbers yet. He had plenty in the bank to run TV ads through the primary even before the month began.

Perdue has led in most recent polls, with Kingston and Handel vying for second place in the two-person runoff and Gingrey and Broun a few points behind them.

Handel has struggled mightily in fundraising throughout the campaign but her attacks on Perdue have helped get her plenty of free media. The big question is whether her small warchest will be enough to carry her over the finish line in ten days.

This post was updated at 11:20 a.m.