U.S. Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume raised more than $100,000 in high-powered out-of-state events on Monday and Tuesday, as he and his supporters talked about a new momentum generated by a newspaper poll showing him as being ahead in the race.
Mfume?s 16-month campaign has been long on energy but short on funds. But a Washington Post poll in late June showing him six points ahead of Rep. Ben Cardin in the Democratic primary has made fundraising easier.
People who wanted to give but were holding back now have a reason to give, Mfume said at the Rock Creek Park home of Washington power-broker Vernon Jordan, whom he called “a second father.”
“It?s probably going to make a real difference” in fundraising, Mfume said. “There is this adrenaline you?re going to get.”
The question is “how he uses [the poll] to raise resources,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, who thanked Mfume for giving up the 7th district congressional seat he now holds.
“One of the greatest fundraising assets is the perception that you are a winner or can win,” he said.
Jordan said the backyard event attended by 80 to 100 people raised at least $45,000 Tuesday evening.
On Monday, Mfume flew to Chicago for a fundraiser hosted by Linda Johnson Rice, president of Johnson Publishing Co., which produces Ebony and Jet magazines.
That event, attended by Mayor Richard Daley, raised $60,000, according to Mark Clack of Mfume?s campaign. Mfume also held a major fundraiser in Atlanta two weeks ago.
He has been repeatedly described as a fighter who never gives up.
“We need someone in the Senate who will fight for ordinary working people,” said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way.
Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said, “This is a national race, not just a local race.”
“The momentum has certainly shifted,” said Rep. Donald Payne, of Newark, from the time Mfume “was not considered a serious candidate” by the national party.
“A few people have been known to underestimate me in life,” said Mfume. “I?ve been fighting all my life with one hand behind my back.”
