Sen. Hagan raises record amount in Q2

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) raised a record $3.6 million in the second quarter of the year, her campaign announced Wednesday.

{mosads}The campaign said that sum is more than any previous second-quarter haul reported in a North Carolina Senate campaign. Chris Hayden, Hagan’s spokesman, called the haul “a reflection of the enthusiasm and momentum behind her campaign.”

As a top Republican target, she’s faced a heavy barrage of on-air attacks from outside GOP groups, and has had to invest in her own advertising to combat those attacks. North Carolina remains the most expensive Senate race in the nation, with one count pegging the amount spent against her at $17 million.

That’s likely contributed to her quick burn rate. Hagan finished June with $8.7 million cash on hand, less than $1 million more than the approximately $8 million she had in the bank at the end of the first quarter. 

But that appears to be money well-spent; she’s held a small but consistent lead in the past two surveys of the race. She’s also been boosted by spending from Democratic groups, which have dumped at least $9 million into the race in attacks on her GOP opponent, state Speaker Thom Tillis, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Tillis hasn’t released his second-quarter fundraising numbers yet, but raised about $1.3 million in the first quarter of the year and had about that much cash in the bank at the end of March.