As Campaign Finance Numbers Trickle In, Lamar Alexander Pads Reelection War Chest

Sen. Lamar Alexander talks with voters at the Tennessee Soybean Festival in Martin. Alexander has appeared at numerous campaign events and fundraisers over the past few months, as he faces a primary challenge from State Rep. Joe Carr. Image. Sen. Lamar Alexander/Facebook

Senator Lamar Alexander raised $838,000 for his reelection campaign in the third quarter. Fundraising numbers for candidates across Tennessee are starting to trickle in, despite furloughs at the Federal Election Commission.

Alexander has raised nearly four million dollars since the beginning of the year, but he hasn’t spend three quarters of it as he tries to beat back a primary challenge from Rutherford County State Rep. Joe Carr. Carr actually switched races in the middle of the reporting period. He raised $300,000 for a congressional campaign. All of it carries over into his Senate bid.

Carr’s campaign has until midnight to submit fundraising numbers to the Federal Elections Commission. The partial government shutdown means almost all of the FEC’s staff has been furloughed. Not all parts of the commission’s website are working, but chairwoman Ellen Weintraub tweeted today that campaigns can file their reports.

FEC website is furlough-functional: not all search engines up but qtrly electronic-rprts can be filed, being posted. http://t.co/z9FqtqcO66

— Ellen L. Weintraub (@ellenlweintraub on threads) (@EllenLWeintraub) October 15, 2013