Legal Insurrection first became interested in Richard Mourdock in November 2011, long before others thought he had a chance of defeating Richard Lugar in the primary, and endorsed him on February 28.
We followed that primary through to victory night, and since then have tracked Mourdock’s efforts to catch Democrat Joe Donnelly in fundraising.
The race is considered a “toss-up” by Roll Call, but in the assessment of Real Clear Politics leans slightly to Mourdock:
10/15/2012 — Indiana regulates polling strictly, so we’ve been starved for information here. The best guess is that Mourdock is ahead, but that it is still a close race.
HuffPo Pollster also suggests a small Mourdock lead:
In Indiana, three new polls from this past week find Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) trailing Richard Mourdock (R) by low single-digit margins. The new data marks a favorable trend for Mourdock, and he now leads by 4.4 points in the HuffPost Pollster estimate. The Indiana race continues to be rated a “tossup,” however, given the relatively sparse polling available in the state.
Mourdock has been hampered by Richard Lugar’s attempt to undermine the effort. Rather than unite the party as would have happened if Lugar won, Lugar refuses to campaign with Mourdock or even to offer strong support, as evidenced in Lugar’s objection this week when an outside group suggested Lugar supported Mourdock:
Lugar is campaigning for the Republican running for Attorney General, making clear Lugar is guided by his hurt feelings from the primary (emphasis mine):
Senator Richard Lugar won’t campaign for Richard Mourdock, yet he is campaigning for another Republican, Attorney General Greg Zoeller.
Lugar is staying out of the Senate race but he’s clearly not quitting politics. It helps make the point that his refusal to campaign for Mourdock is personal and intentional.
Nonetheless, Mourdock had a much better 3rd Quarter fundraising than Donnelly, but the real story is outside spending:
Spending in Indiana’s tight U.S. Senate race topped $20 million this week …
According to a Republican tally of spending booked through Monday, the top four players in Indiana’s Senate race are Rove’s Crossroads GPS, which has spent $3.8 million; the Mourdock campaign, with $2.1 million; the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, with $2.1 million; and Reid’s Majority PAC, which has spent $1.9 million.
It is important not only to help Tea Party candidates win primaries, but to get them across the finish line, particularly where the outgoing Republican primary loser is trying to undermine the effort.
Please donate to Richard Mourdock.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
UAW members seek to dominate the audience at next week’s US Senate debate in Indiana.
OK. Just sent our third contribution of California dollars to Mourdock.
My wife and I have upped our political contributions this election cycle by a couple orders of magnitude. It’s now or never for the good old USA.
Remember Big Tex by supporting Richard Murdock!
This is a new one on me: “Indiana regulates polling strictly.” What is that about? Lots of states regulate entrance or exit polling at the voting booth, at least within some distance, but pre-election public opinion polling? How is that possible?
Sent a fairly large donation last payday; he’s slated for another next payday.
I know that’s awfully close to the election, but can’t send the money until I get it.
And Luger is a jackass loser.
Dick Lugar’s first name fits him perfectly!
Indiana is one state where the a voter ID law passed muster by the courts. When you enter the polling place you will have a photo ID and you will have preregistered to vote.
Howey Politics wants to call the Indiana Senate race a toss-up because the Libertarian candidate was not included in any poll but theirs, but the Howey poll dates back to September.
Romney has now gone up to 50-41 by Rasmussen and 54-41 by YouGov.
If Romney wins that big, Mourdock will be pulled along behind the landslide.