Washington (CNN) – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s re-election team announced Friday that it added $2.2 million to its war chest, a sum that far outpaces the Kentucky Republican’s bipartisan challengers.
McConnell, who’s been fundraising for years with eyes on a sixth term in the Senate, has raised a total of $20 million for the race and ended 2013 with $10.9 million left in the bank.
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Jesse Benton, McConnell’s campaign manager, said the haul shows the “enthusiastic support” the senator is “gaining every day from people across America who appreciate his conservative leadership and willingness to fight on their behalf.”
Alison Lundergan Grimes, McConnell’s Democratic challenger and Kentucky’s secretary of state, also announced Friday that her campaign had raised $2.1 million at the end of 2013 and finished the year with $3.5 million left to spend.
Touting the haul as proof of “skyrocketing momentum,” Grimes announced she had raised a total of $5 million for the race.
“Grassroots supporters from all 120 Kentucky counties and all 50 states have invested in our campaign, underscoring the growing momentum behind Alison’s candidacy and the widely expressed rejection of Mitch McConnell’s failed, 30-year Washington record,” the campaign said in a release.
Although the numbers show McConnell has a substantial fundraising advantage and has far outspent Grimes, polls indicate the race could be close.
Grimes is not the only Senate hopeful challenging McConnell, however. Republican Matt Bevin announced Friday he brought it $900,000 in the final three months of 2013 and did not detail how much cash on hand the campaign had.
“We are encouraged that so many Kentuckians and conservatives across the country are engaging in this U.S. Senate race and are aware of what's at stake for our party and America,” said Bevin, a businessman who is backed by tea party grips like the Senate Conservatives Fund.
The race to unseat McConnell has drawn a substantial amount of attention from groups on both sides of the aisle. Democrats hope to seize on the opportunity to upend the Republican leader, while tea party Republicans would like to unseat McConnell as a symbol of their movement’s strength.
In response, McConnell has received some outside support from groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who have dumped $200,000 in the contest.
To date, according to The Center for Responsive Politics, a total of $2.6 million of outside money has been spent in the race. One million of that has been spent against McConnell, while $1.1 has been spent against Grimes.
CNN’s Ashley Killough contributed to this report.