McConnell boasts $4.25M for re-election

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has banked $4.25 million for a re-election campaign that's still two years away, a signal to potential Democratic challengers that they'd likely enter the race at a distinct financial disadvantage.

McConnell Chief of Staff Josh Holmes told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Kentucky's senior senator will file reports with the Federal Election Commission later this month showing he raised another $1 million between October and December.

The Louisville Republican is certain to be targeted by national Democrats in 2014, just as he was in 2008 when he won re-election to a fifth term. McConnell spent some $20 million in that election, beating Democrat Bruce Lunsford, a wealthy Kentucky businessman, by 6 percentage points.