Steele to Report Strong Fundraising for Second Quarter

Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) will report raising more than $1.8 million in the quarter that ended June 30. (Chris Gardner - AP)

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) will report raising more than $1.8 million during the second quarter of the year, a clip likely to far outpace any of his rivals for the open U.S. Senate seat, according to an internal campaign memo.

Steele finished the quarter that ended June 30 with more than $3 million in the bank, according to a memo written by his campaign manager, Michael Levitt, that is circulating in advance of next week's deadline to file reports. Steele's $1.8 million haul exceeded the $1.3 million he raised last quarter.

The leading Democrats in the primary contest -- Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin and former congressman Kweisi Mfume -- said they were not ready yesterday to release their fundraising numbers, which are due next Saturday.

Spokesman Oren Shur said Cardin is "confident we will have the resources to defeat Michael Steele this November."

Cardin, the leading Democratic fundraiser, had about $2.6 million in his treasury at the end of March after raising about $3.6 million. Cardin's report this month will reflect a $680,000 down payment he has made to reserve air time during the two weeks leading up to the Sept. 12 primary.

Mfume's spokesman, Mark Clack, declined to discuss specific numbers but said the campaign would have enough money to "be competitive" and "get our message out."

Clack said he could not say whether Mfume would have enough money to communicate his message on television. An April report showed that he had raised about $520,000.

In an interview on Washington Post Radio yesterday, Mfume said he was confident that the national Democratic Party would deliver to the primary winner the money needed to win the general election.

Arthur Harris, a spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party, said Steele's fundraising success was not surprising, given that he has had several national Republican figures helping him, including Vice President Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.)

"It's no secret that the Bush-Cheney money machine has been backing Steele all along," Harris said.

In an interview, Steele said the bulk of his money had been raised in small amounts from donors in Maryland, and he scoffed at Democratic attempts to portray him as tied too closely to Washington.

"Can you tell them to get another song to sing?" Steele said. "They're like one of those old 78 rpm records that are stuck in the same groove."