Simmons raises $970K in third quarter for Dodd challenge

Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) raised nearly $1 million in the third quarter for his campaign against Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), according to a campaign source.

Simmons’s $970,000 take is an improvement over his second-quarter haul of $750,000, and hovering around the $1 million-per-quarter mark is about where a top Senate challenger should be in the off-year, depending on the state. It remains to be seen how much of that money will be depleted in a primary, though, where Simmons is the front-runner but his nomination isn’t a foregone conclusion.

Simmons faces a crowded GOP field full of moneyed opponents, including former WWE Chairwoman Linda McMahon, former George W. Bush fundraiser and Ireland Ambassador Tom Foley and investment banker Peter Schiff, who has raised more than $1 million.

Foley raised a meager $280,000 in the third quarter after a $530,000 second quarter, but he plugged in $500,000 of his own money and now has more than $1 million on hand.

Simmons has nearly $1.1 million on hand.

McMahon hasn’t released her figures, though she has already started an advertising blitz and could have tens of millions in personal funds to spend on the race.