California House candidate Dr. Ami Bera kept up his blistering fundraising pace in the third quarter, raising $335,000 for his campaign to unseat Republican Rep. Dan Lungren.
Bera ended the quarter with $586,000 cash-on-hand.
The physician and one-time chief medical officer for Sacramento County made a splash in July when he announced he had raised more than $288,000 in his first quarter of fundraising, ranking him seventh among House challengers nationally.
Aside from a $4,800 contribution from the candidate, the funds have come almost entirely from individual donors.
Bera is not the only one gunning for Lungren, who failed to earn 50 percent of the vote in 2008, defeating underfunded Democratic challenger Bill Durston 49.5 percent to 43.9 percent. Bill Slaton, director of the Sacramento Munipical Utility District, also posted impressive second-quarter fundraising numbers, though he has not released his third-quarter figures.
Lungren reported $322,000 in cash-on-hand at the end of June.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009/10/doctor-tops-600000-in-campaign.html