Mourdock Outraises Donnelly

Richard Mourdock was criticized by political pundits during most of his primary race against Sen. Richard Lugar for lackluster fundraising. Lugar easily outraised and outspent Mourdock by millions of dollars. Since defeating Lugar by a landslide margin in May, Mourdock's fundraising has picked up considerably and he's now on pace to outraise and outspend his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly.

According to the respective campaigns, both had successful second quarter fundraising results, but Mourdock outperformed Donnelly, raising $1.6 million compared to Donnelly's $900,000. Mourdock's total for the last quarter nearly matched the $1.96 million he had raised prior to the last quarter. Donnelly, who had no primary race, has more than $1.3 million cash on hand. According to the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Mourdock's campaign has not provided an available cash figure yet, but it is expected to be considerably less than Donnelly's total. Final reports are due by Sunday.

Meanwhile, Indiana Democrats continue the drumbeat of attacks on Mourdock's decision to challenge the government bailout of Chrysler on behalf of the state's pension funds. Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker claimed that Mourdock's lawsuit cost Indiana taxpayers $2.8 million, more than the $2 million claimed by Mourdock. Mourdock's campaign spokesman, Chris Conner, countered that the state's agreement with its lawyers capped the state's legal expenses at $2,050,000, even though the total bill came to $2.8 million. The Democrats maintain that Mourdock's lawsuit put thousands of Hoosier auto worker jobs at stake and wasted taxpayer dollars.