Alexander has $3.18M cash for reelection fight

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) started the election year on solid financial footing for his reelection fight with nearly eight times more cash in the bank than his primary challenger, state Rep. Joe Carr, according to figures announced Friday.

The senator raised $768,000 in the last three months of the year, while Carr raised just $251,000.

Alexander also had $3.18 million cash on hand at the end of the year, according to his campaign, while Carr’s campaign announced just $405,000 cash in the bank.

That’s a decline in fundraising for Alexander, who raised $838,000 in the third quarter, and a substantial increase in fundraising for Carr, who raised just $52,000 during that prior period.

Still, Carr has considerable catching up to do to compete with Alexander ahead of the August primary.