Dino Rossi's campaign announced yesterday that he has already raised more money in 2008 than that which he compiled in his entire 2004 campaign (he's over $6,250,000 already this year).
This should come as little surprise when one considers that back in May, Rossi's current contributor list surpassed his total number of donors from 2004 (30,745). Now, it numbers over 37,000 and counts two-thirds of those donors as new to the campaign, meaning they didn't give in 2004.
Yes, Christine Gregoire is likewise going to crush her previous fundraising record from 2004. Both sides are going to be loaded for bear given the local and national attention being given to this race.
Recall, however, that many a major business community contributor who gave to Rossi in 2004, or split their contributions to both sides given the open nature of that race, are now either giving either solely to Gregoire or not at all. Rossi's current success on the fundraising trail is heavily reliant on a grassroots level of support hitherto unseen in Evergreen State gubernatorial politics.
On a related note, I'd say Rossi is going to need it. For now, the respective 3rd party groups (Change PAC/BIAW and Evergreen Progress) are close to canceling each other out. While that is about as good as Rossi could hope to get running against a Democratic incumbent in a blue state, that same dynamic means the incumbent will be well-funded indeed for this fall.
Money is by no means everything, but in a close election, every opportunity one gets to elevate your own message and/or mitigate your opponent's is important.
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