Flexing its financial muscle the campaign to re-elect Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is reporting it raised $2.2 million in the second quarter.The numbers haven't been reported with the Federal Election Commission, but campaign manager Jesse Benton confirmed the substantial amount with WFPL.McConnell has now raised over $15 million in total and has close to $10 million on-hand as he seeks a sixth term in office.The $2.2 million figure puts the GOP leader ahead of pace when compared to his 2008 campaign levels around the same time, and when compared to the $1.8 million raised in the first three months of the year.Benton says the goal has been to run a presidential level campaign that will ultimately raise $25 million.Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes announced her intentions to run for Senate last week and launched a website a few days later, which means she won't have to file fundraising numbers until October.Observers have said Grimes will have to raise at least $10 million to be competitive in the 2014 contest.
