Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton raised more campaign cash in the third quarter than GOP Senate primary rival George LeMieux — but neither one comes close to incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Hasner raised $535,000 between July 1 and Sept. 30 and has $786,000 in cash on hand, his campaign said this evening. LeMieux, a former appointed Senator, raised $402,916 in the quarter and has a little more than $1 million in the bank.

Nelson, seeking a third term next year, said earlier this week that he raised nearly $2 million in the last quarter and has about $7.5 million in cash on hand.

A third Republican candidate, former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller, tonight announced he raised $226,000 in the quarter and has $145,000 cash on hand.

Also seeking the GOP nomination is Plant City businessman Mike McCalister, who has not yet announced his third-quarter fundraising totals. Federal Election Commission reports are due Saturday.

Hasner’s latest $535,000 haul compares to $565,439 he raised in the second quarter.

LeMieux’s third-quarter total is less than half the $951,558 he raised in the previous quarter.

Hasner and LeMieux together raised less than half the $1.9 million that U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, raised in the third quarter for his House reelection bid.

West’s fundraising prowess led some Republicans to urge him to enter the Senate race, but West turned down the idea during the summer.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 6:53 pm and is filed under 2012 campaigns, Adam Hasner, Bill Nelson, Craig Miller, George Bennett, George LeMieux, Mike McCalister. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.