Patrick Murphy raises $2.4 million during second quarter for U.S. Senate campaign

Patrick Murphy announced Thursday he has raised more than $2.4 million in the past three months in his campaign for U.S. Senate in Florida. And he now has more than $7.2 million cash on hand, the most of any candidate running from either party for the U.S. Senate in Florida.

“I am humbled by the outpouring of grassroots support from Floridians across our state and I will continue working hard every day for them,” Murphy said in a statement. “Florida families are ready for a leader who shows up to work and fights for our shared progressive priorities in the Senate. Together, we will protect a woman’s right to choose, defense, Social Security and Medicare for our seniors, and strengthen our middle class. This campaign is about Floridians and I am proud to have them behind me in this race.”

The Murphy campaign says it raised $750,000 just in the last 10 days of the month, demonstrating support during one of the toughest periods since he declared his candidacy in the spring of 2015. That was the fallout of a story by CBS Miami reporter Jim DeFede, who reported Murphy was not a licensed CPA in Florida, and was never a small-business owner (charges the Murphy campaign pushed back on).

“The strong grassroots support is proof positive that Floridians have a clear choice between someone who will show up for work and fight for them and two politicians who only look out for themselves: Alan Grayson and Marco Rubio.”

Murphy is the first of the four major candidates running for Senate in both parties to disclose his second-quarter fundraising totals.