U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and his Democratic challenger Rob Zerban broke state records for fundraising during their race for the First Congressional District House of Representatives seat, Common Cause, a non-partisan organization, reported Thursday.
Ryan and Zerban raised nearly $7.3 million in campaign contributions combined, breaking the previous record set in 2006, which totaled just over $6 million, according to the report.
Ryan, who also ran an unsuccessful vice presidential campaign, accumulated just under $5 million, receiving 72 percent of his funds from individual contributors and 25 percent from political action committees. Zerban collected approximately $2.26 million in contributions, 93 percent of which came from individual contributors, according to the report.
Ryan and Zerban, in Ryan’s closest race since he was first elected to the House in 1998, collected about $3 million more than the second most funded Wisconsin race for a House seat this year.
