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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Senate Republican candidate Mike Lee holds a big fundraising edge over Democratic rival Sam Granato in the bid to replace outgoing Sen. Bob Bennett, according to their latest finance disclosure reports.
But the Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Utah politician with the most money is Sen. Orrin Hatch, who already has more than $2.3 million on hand for his 2012 re-election campaign.
Candidates for federal office faced a Friday deadline to file their campaign finance reports detailing contributions and expenditures from July through September.
Lee collected $510,161 compared with Granato's $92,968 over the last quarter. Lee still has more than $234,000 in the bank while Granato has about $36,000 left.
Lee received major donations from several Washington and New York-based political action committees, as well as from individual donors from Utah and elsewhere. Granato snagged money from 688 individual donors, mostly from Utah.
Hatch, who intends to seek a seventh term, garnered most of his $294,315 over the quarter from individuals, though PACs accounted for a good chunk as well.
In the 2nd District U.S. House race, Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson raised $262,268 compared with Republican challenger Morgan Philpot's $69,852 over the last three months. Matheson reported $362,464 on hand to Philpot's $16,759 in the bank and $5,080 in debt.
Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz raised more than $106,000 and spent three-quarters of that during the past three months. But he still has more than $134,000 on hand.
His Democratic opponent, Karen Hyer, collected nearly $4,000 in the third quarter but spent more than $12,000, leaving her campaign with $2,000 on hand.
While most of his donations came from PACs, Chaffetz also got a $500 donation from Jess Hatch, the son of Sen. Hatch. The freshman congressman has not ruled out running against Hatch in 2012.
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(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
