Hillary Has More Than $22M in War Chest
By MARC HUMBERT
Newsday

Sen. Hillary Clinton Has More Than $22 Million for Re-Election Bid Against 2 GOP Candidates
[photo of Jonathan Tasini]

Jonathan Tasini, who is running in a Democratic primary against Sen. Hillary Clinton, holds a news conference outside the New York State Board of Elections in Albany, N.Y., Thursday, July 13, 2006. Tasini has refused to give up the fight against the most famous woman in American politics and leading contender among potential 2008 Democratic presidential contenders. He says he is under no illusions about his chances given his lack of money and her level of fame. (AP Photo/ Jim McKnight)

ALBANY, N.Y. Jul 14, 2006 (AP)— Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has more than $22 million for her re-election run against two little-known New York Republicans, raising the possibility of plenty of leftover cash for a potential White House bid.

The former first lady said her campaign had raised almost $5.7 million over the last three months and had raised more than $43 million overall. The campaign has spent more than $21.7 million on her bid for a second Senate term.

Clinton had $19.7 million cash on hand at the end of March after raising more than $6 million during the first three months of the year.

Patti Solis Doyle, executive director of the Friends of Hillary campaign committee, said that over the second quarter of this year, the Clinton committee received 38,377 individual contributions with almost 35,000 of those donors giving $100 or less.

Former Yonkers mayor John Spencer and Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland, a Reagan-era Pentagon official, are vying for the Republican nomination to challenge Clinton. Both Republicans have had trouble raising money.

McFarland spokesman William O'Reilly said Friday that her campaign committee had just $282,199 on hand at the end of June, down from $430,000 in March. The latest account balance does not include a $100,000 loan she is making to her committee, O'Reilly said. Over the three month-period, the McFarland campaign has raised $224,000, he said.

The Spencer campaign had provided no information by mid-afternoon on Friday about its latest filing. It had $340,000 on hand in March.

The primary is Sept. 12.

The Clinton filing was the latest show of strength by the front-runner in the polls among the potential 2008 Democratic presidential contenders. Any money she doesn't use for her re-election race can be used in a presidential race.

By comparison, when she first ran for Senate in 2000, Clinton had just $6.9 million in hand at the end of June after raising about $19 million.

Other Senate candidates also released their fundraising totals for the three-month period.