Bysiewicz Raises $500k, Murphy Expected to Double Her Take.

Former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz announced last week that she raised $500,000 in the first quarter of the year for her campaign for the 2012 Democratic nomination for the United States Senate. In the announcement of her haul, Bysiewicz began to inoculate herself against a Murphy juggernaut.  The Middletown Democrat declared she doesn’t “have a cozy relationship with DC insiders.”  She’s relying on regular folks to fund her campaign.  Should K Street come calling, expect Bysiewicz to give them a friendly welcome.  Only weeks after painting herself as a champion of public financing of state political campaigns, Bysiewicz declined to participate in the program and opted instead to rely on bigger donors and no cap in her unsuccessful race for attorney general.

Murphy, Daily Ructions has learned, will show that he reached his $1 million goal in the first quarter.

A word about a campaign’s first foray into the fundraising thicket.  For veteran candidates, it’s often the easiest period to collect contributions because a candidate turns first to its base of givers created over the fullness of previous winning campaigns. The second fundraising quarter is often the test.