Giffords’ $2.3M in fundraising leads all U.S. House candidates

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continues to lead the pack in fundraising in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, raising $591,000 in the second quarter of the year.

She has now raised nearly $2.3 million overall, the most money by any candidate running for the U.S. House of Representatives. She still has almost that entire amount – more than $2.2 million – in the bank.

While Giffords is out-raising all of her CD-8 opponents by a mile, Republicans who are vying for their party’s nomination have also accumulated sizable war chests.

Former state Sen. Jonathan Paton, who resigned from the Legislature early this year to run for Congress, has collected $673,000 so far, with $167,000 coming in the second quarter alone.

Paton reported having more than $286,000 in the bank.

Jesse Kelly has raised about $490,000 total during his campaign. Of that sum, $123,000 came in the recent quarter. He now has about $162,000 cash on hand.

Brian Miller, meanwhile, has raised $157,000. He collected $17,600 of that in second quarter.