Campaign contributions first quarter 2008

Mark Udall: $1.45 million

Bob Shaffer: $1.02 million



Total contributions

Mark Udall: $5.1 million

Bob Shaffer: $3.2 million



Cash on hand

Mark Udall: $4.23 million

Bob Shaffer: $2.84 million (estimated)



Total campaign expenditures

Mark Udall: $2.187 million

Bob Shaffer: $1.05 million

Source: http://opensecrets.org



SUMMIT COUNTY - In a hotly contested run for the U.S. Senate, Republican candidate Bob Shaffer and Democrat Mark Udall continue to rake in the big bucks.

Udall reported raising $1.45 million in the first quarter of 2008, his most lucrative fund raising quarter so far. Contributions to Shaffer's campaign totaled $1.02 million during the same quarter.

According to public campaign finance reports, Udall now has $4.2 million cash on hand, nearly double Shaffer's total of 2.2 million.

Shaffer garnered about $110,587 from political action committees and $379,019 from committee transfers.

Political Action Committees accounted for about $250,000 of Udall's total campaign contributions for the quarter. The finance reports show Udall spent about $850,000 on fund raising consultants, telemarketing, brochures and direct mail during the first three months of 2008.

Shaffer spent about $366,000 during that same period, according to a press release from his campaign manager.

"We are well on our way to bringing in the resources necessary to beat Boulder liberal Mark Udall and his out-of-state liberal elitist donors this fall," campaign manager Dick Wadhams said in a press release.

Udall has raised more than twice as much (58 percent) from out-of-state sources than from Colorado donors, reflecting his status as a Beltway insider.

With a home-grown campaign, Shaffer has seen 69 percent of his donations come from within Colorado.

For the entire campaign, Udall has raised $5,158,802, with 21 percent coming from PACs, 52 percent from individual contributions and 27 percent from other sources.

Through the last quarter of 2007, Shaffer's contribution broke down to 11 percent from PACs, 84 percent from individual contributions and five percent from other sources.

Lawyers and law firms lead the list of Udall donors, along with hefty chunks of change from retirees, securities and investment companies and real estate interests.

Retirees have been the single biggest source of donations to Shaffer's campaign, according to the breakdown on the http://opensecrets.org web site. Various Republican Party groups and leadership PACs are the next-biggest source of donations to Shaffer's campaign coffers.