TX-Sen: Noriega raises big money -- $570K

Okay, so we got that concern out of the way. From a campaign press release:

Rick Noriega announced today contributions of $570,000 for the October 15th FEC financial disclosure report.  The report, the first for the State Representative and Lt. Colonel’s exploratory campaign, shows growing momentum for his campaign to unseat incumbent Republican John Cornyn.

“Rick Noriega’s strength is his story,” noted his campaign manager Sue Schechter, referring to his long history of service, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan, playing a leading role in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in Houston, commanding troops and serving five terms as a State Representative.  “As our very first FEC report makes clear, Rick has the fundraising appeal and a growing network of supporters to ensure we’ll have the resources to communicate his story to the voters.”

Noriega’s fundraising totals put Texas on the map nationally, besting the benchmarks set by 4 out of 5 of the winning Democratic challengers in 2006 Senate races. As the attached chart shows, Noriega’s totals put him ahead of the 2006-October 15th filings of John Tester (D-MT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Jim Webb (D-VA), whose victories last cycle helped secure Democratic control of the US Senate.  Noriega’s totals are ahead of all winners except Claire McCaskill (D-MO) who was waging her third statewide race and received much of her support from national donors.

In addition to Noriega’s support from a growing list of the state’s leading Democratic donors, the campaign also raised $158,860 online from over 1,100 donations via ActBlue, the Democratic clearinghouse for online donations.  That made the Noriega campaign the most successful non-incumbent Senate candidate on ActBlue during the 3rd quarter.  The report also includes a $5,000 contribution from VoteVets.org PAC, the leading political organization of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, as well as a $50,000 loan Noriega made to his own campaign, and nearly 1,300 unique contributors.

The 2005 Q3 numbers from last cycle:

Claire McCaskill: $681,067
Jon Tester: $319,049
Bob Casey: $219,863
Sherrod Brown: $202,325

They've thrown in Jim Webb even though his first report wasn't until Q1 2006, clocking in at $152,905.

On the web: Rick Noriega for Senate (Exploratory committee)

Update: There's a zero missing from Casey's Q3 haul. That should be $2.2 million.