Tillis continues mediocre fundraising pace

North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) continued his mediocre fundraising pace in the fourth quarter, hauling in $700,000 in the last three months despite help from a number of top Republican donors.

Tillis has raised $1.7 million since he got in the race against Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) in early June, and has $1.3 million in the bank for the race.

{mosads}The GOP front-runner promised to be a fundraising powerhouse when he jumped into the race. So far, Tillis has been consistent, but not dominant in that department.

He’s had fundraising help from a number of top Republicans who are hoping he can beat back his primary challengers and defeat Hagan. Top GOP strategist Karl Rove, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) have all stepped in to help Tillis with fundraising and attended events for him.

Tillis said that he’s in better shape both financially and in the polls than Hagan was at this point in 2008. Hagan had entered the race in October 2007. 

“At the end of 2007, Kay Hagan had raised only $565,000 and had just over half-a-million dollars on hand. At the end of 2013, we were more than $1.2 million ahead of her fundraising pace, and we had a cash-on-hand advantage of almost $800,000,” he said in an email to supporters.

“Our advantage is not limited to finances. Six years ago, Kay Hagan was anywhere from 7-20 points behind incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole in the polls,” he continued. “A similar poll from a national Democratic firm earlier this month showed our campaign leading Sen. Hagan by one point.”

Hagan announced earlier this month that she had raised $2 million in the quarter and has $6.8 million cash on hand. 

This post was updated at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday.