Democratic Challenger Warren Collects $5.7 Million for Mass. Senate Campaign

Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren raised $5.7 million during the final quarter of 2011 in her bid to win the Senate seat once held by the late Edward M. Kennedy, according to the Boston Globe.

But Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who won the Kennedy seat in a 2010 special election, has amassed a campaign war chest of $12.8 million, a record for a statewide candidate this early in the election cycle. Warren, a Harvard law professor and consumer advocate seeking to reclaim the seat for the Democrats, has about half that amount.

But the Globe reported that Democrats nationwide appear to be excited by her candidacy and willing to back her with whatever it takes financially for her to compete in what has become one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races.

According to the Globe, Warren, spent $1.6 million in December alone on television advertising aimed at raising her profile among voters. She still has to win the March 6 Democratic primary before she can face off against Brown in the November general election.