Rand Paul Raises $2.7 Million, Outpaces Jack Conway's $1 Million.

APNewsBreak: Paul trounces Conway in fundraising
By ROGER ALFORD

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul took in $2.7 million for the three months ending Sept. 30, about $1 million more than Democrat Jack Conway.

Paul has now topped $6 million in campaign contributions, according to a summary of his report filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission and obtained by The Associated Press. He entered the campaign's final weeks with more than $1.4 million on hand.

Conway raised more than $1.7 million from July through September and had about $1 million on hand, campaign spokesman John Collins said.

Paul and Conway are running in one of the nation's most closely watched races, one that pits Paul, a tea party favorite and political outsider, against Conway, Kentucky's attorney general with a well-established political resume.

They're running for the seat of 78-year-old Sen. Jim Bunning, a former major league baseball pitcher who opted not to seek a third term.

Their race has taken on a bitter tone with Kentucky's airwaves filled with attack ads paid for by both campaigns and numerous outside groups.

The latest ad from Conway's campaign began airing Friday night. It asks about published reports that Paul, during his college years, was a member of a secret society at Baylor University that called the Bible a hoax. The ad also asks why Paul, while in college, tied a woman up and told her to worship Aqua Buddha. The ad is based in part on claims made by an anonymous woman in articles in GQ Magazine and The Washington Post. Paul called the articles ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Conway is being painted in ads as a puppet for President Barack Obama who would support the Democratic president's initiatives, even those that are widely unpopular in Kentucky. One spot uses an Obama impersonator who says of Conway: "Now there's a guy I can work with in Washington."

University of Kentucky political scientist Stephen Voss said both Paul and Conway are reporting plenty of money to get their messages leading up to the Nov. 2 election.

"When you start getting into numbers that big, the differences matter very little," he said.

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Online:

Conway campaign: http://www.jackconway.org/

Paul campaign: http://www.randpaul2010.com/