Amy McGrath's First 24 Hours Were Extremely Lucrative

On Tuesday, Democrat Amy McGrath announced she was going toe-to-toe with Mitch McConnell. On Wednesday, her campaign announced it pulled in $2.5 million in the first 24 hours—a record for a Democratic Senate campaign by a long shot. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says the previous record-holder was former NASA astronaut and Arizona candidate Mark Kelly, who pulled in $1 million in his first 24 hours in February. The amount exclusively comes from online donations, which averaged $36.15. NBC News' take: "The haul is a sign of just how deep Democratic antipathy toward McConnell, the Senate majority leader, runs in the Trump era."

The Washington Post gives more context to her haul: Only three 2020 Democratic presidential candidates—Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Beto O'Rourke—said that they reeled in a greater amount in their first 24 hours. But McGrath's millions are just a fraction of what she'll need in what's likely to be one of the priciest Senate battles of the 2020 cycle. Politico reports McConnell had $5.5 million as of March; next week he'll report his updated tally as of the end of June. In his 2014 run, McConnell spent upward of $30 million. McGrath raised $8 million in her failed House bid last year. (In announcing her candidacy, McGrath recalled a letter she wrote to McConnell at age 13.)