Sinema announces raising nearly $7 million in third quarter

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) says she raised nearly $7 million in the third fundraising quarter of the year, shattering her previous fundraising records in the Senate race against Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.).

Sinema’s latest haul — shared first with The Hill — more than doubled her last fundraising numbers.

{mosads}The Arizona Democrat’s third-quarter fundraising, which runs from July to September, comprises money raised by her campaign committee and joint fundraising committee, Sinema Victory Fund. She has yet to announce how much she had on hand at the end of September.

“This will keep our message on the air and fuel the largest voter mobilization program ever seen in the state,” Andrew Piatt, Sinema’s campaign manager, wrote in a Tuesday memo obtained by The Hill.

“With ballots hitting kitchen tables on Wednesday, the enthusiasm and depth of support for Kyrsten has her gaining momentum at exactly the right time.”

McSally has yet to announce her third-quarter fundraising haul. She raised nearly $3.3 million in the second quarter, narrowly outraising Sinema’s $3 million raised between April and June.

Sinema and McSally are squaring off in the race to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), in a race that is seen as one of the best opportunities for Democrats to flip a Senate seat this cycle. Recent polling has shown Sinema with a consistent, but narrow lead within the margin of error.

In the final stretch of the midterm elections, Democratic candidates in both the Senate and House have been announcing massive fundraising hauls in the third quarter.

Similar to Sinema’s fundraising, Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who’s running against Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), raised more than $7 million and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) brought in $6 million.

Sinema’s announcement comes as early voting in Arizona is set to begin on Wednesday, about four weeks out from the midterms. Arizona is a heavy vote-by-mail state, with an estimated 80 percent of voters expected to cast votes early via mail ballots.

Her campaign recently launched “Arizona Votes Early,” a statewide organizing effort to boost early voting. The campaign said the early voting push has drawn hundreds of volunteers to canvass and phone bank.

In Tuesday’s campaign memo, Sinema’s team highlighted how health care is playing out as a major issue in the Senate race — something that Democratic campaigns believe is a winning issue for them this cycle.

The memo notes that Senate Leadership Fund, the GOP’s top super PAC, has started running ads for McSally on the issue of health care.

Veterans and military issues have also become prominent themes in Arizona’s Senate race, with McSally frequently highlighting her service as the first woman to fly combat missions for the Air Force. The Arizona Republican has taken aim at Sinema’s past anti-war protesting.

Sinema and her campaign have labeled attack ads about her views on military service as “lies,” highlighting in the memo that the congresswoman has worked for years on veterans issues in Arizona.