Patrick Murphy, one of two Democrats running to unseat tea party favorite Rep. Allen West, R-Fort Lauderdale, has reported that he raised $450,000 in the second quarter.
The other Democrat running against West, Emily’s List-endorsed Lois Frankel, has not disclosed how much she raised yet.
The 28-year-old businessman raised $352,000 in the first three weeks of his campaign during the first quarter.
“I am extremely pleased with the unprecedented support our campaign is receiving,” Murphy said in a statement. “Beating Tea Party darling Allen West is going to require raising a great deal of money, but this campaign is proving we can do it.”
West is facing a tough reelection. Already, the National Republican Congressional Committee has announced it will be providing West with special financial help because he is among a handful of candidates believed to be particularly vulnerable in the upcoming election.
Groups like Emily’s List have singled out West for his views on social issues. Last month, West fired an intern for re-tweeting a message supportive of gays on West’s Twitter account. Earlier that same month he called gay marriage an “oxymoron.” West also said that liberal women “neutering American men” were to blame for the country’s debt.
West gave a speech last April to a conservative Christian women’s group called Women Impacting the Nation. In the speech West said:
We need you to come in and lock shields, and strengthen up the men who are going to the fight for you. To let these other women know, on the other side — these Planned Parenthood women, the Code Pink women, and all of these women that have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness — to let them know that we are not going to have our men become subservient. That’s what we need you to do. Because if you don’t, then the debt will continue to grow.
The other Democrat in the race to challenge West, Frankel has already been targeted by a conservative group that has ties to West.
