Murphy raises $2M in first quarter for Florida Senate bid

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) raised $2 million in the first quarter of the year in his bid for a Senate seat.

The Florida congressman’s haul brings his cash on hand to $5.6 million. His strong fundraising gives him a huge boost ahead of the Democratic primary election in August, when he faces Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.).

“The support for our campaign, from Pensacola to Key West, keeps growing, and I could not be prouder of the inclusive, grassroots campaign we are building,” Murphy said in a statement.

{mosads}“The issues at stake in this election could not be more clear. In the Senate, I will fight to protect Social Security and Medicare from efforts to dismantle them, fight for women’s healthcare, and work to break down the barriers holding our middle-class families back.”

The two are running a heated campaign for outgoing Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) seat.

On Monday, Grayson also released fundraising numbers from the first quarter of 2016. He raised about $1 million —  half of Murphy’s haul — which includes a $200,000 loan that the Florida congressman gave to his campaign.

The Grayson campaign said his cash on hand doubled from the last fundraising quarter, when he had slightly more than $211,000 in the bank.

“Voters see the differences between me and my main primary opponent, and they have responded by opening their hearts, as well as their pocketbooks.” Grayson said in a statement. “Rather than cater to Wall Street and Dirty Energy interests, I’m building a movement. And it’s one that will show how we can end the corrupt system where lawmakers like Patrick Murphy carve up legislation into little pieces, and sell it off to the biggest campaign donors.”

Murphy has significantly outpaced Grayson in the past. The liberal firebrand raised just shy of $600,000 in the last quarter of 2015, which included a $100,000 loan he gave his campaign.

Murphy has been racking up endorsements from establishment leaders, even President Obama and Vice President Biden. But Grayson has earned endorsements from influential progressive groups including Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Grayson, though, has been under fire for running a hedge fund while in Congress. Top campaign staffers, who have since departed, suggested last year that he close the account. He rejected the advice, according to emails obtained by The New York Times.

The controversy prompted Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to call on Grayson to drop out of the race.

Grayson has so far refused, calling the reports about his hedge fund “misleading statements” and “outright lies” and denying any wrongdoing.

But the controversy has complicated his Senate bid.

Last week, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) called for a formal investigation of Grayson. The report said there is “substantial reason to believe” that Grayson violated House ethics rules and federal law by managing a hedge fund while serving as a member of Congress.

Following the report’s release, Murphy said Grayson isn’t qualified to hold public office but stopped short of calling on him to resign.

Grayson has accused Murphy of fueling the controversy to hurt his Senate bid.

In a statement, Grayson called the investigation a “Murphy-instigated fishing expedition.”

— This post was updated at 4:45 p.m.