McKenna Now Free to Fundraise

McKenna Now Free to Fundraise:
The Washington state legislature passed a budget this morning, bringing to a close a lengthy legislative session that prevented Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna from raising money for the governor's race.

McKenna and former Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee announced their March fundraising totals on Tuesday. Inslee, who announced last month that he was stepping down from Congress, raised over $583,000. McKenna raised $268,000.

At first glance, it looks like Inslee is the stronger fundraiser. But that's not the case. State campaign finance law prevented McKenna from raising funds during the session because of his position as attorney general. McKenna raised his entire haul during a three-day gap in the session while Inslee had all month. Over a quarter million raised in three days is very impressive for any candidate.

Now that the session is over, look for McKenna to eat into Inslee's overall fundraising lead and perhaps even surpass him when the next round of reports are in. Inslee has raised over $4.83 million so far, over $500,000 of which has come from the state Democratic Party. McKenna has raised just over $4 million.