Mo. GOP challengers trail Sen. McCaskill in money

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri's Republican U.S. Senate candidates are having trouble raising enough money to keep up with Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Campaign finance summaries show that Republicans Todd Akin, Sarah Steelman and John Brunner raised a combined total of about $520,000 in individual donations during the last three months of 2011. That's barely half of the $923,000 that McCaskill raised from individuals.

Those figures do not include the $1 million that Brunner gave to his own campaign.

The Republicans also trail McCaskill in available campaign cash. After expenses, McCaskill reported having $4.8 million in her account. Akin had less than $1.2 million, Steelman about $573,000 and Brunner about $209,000.

The Republicans are to meet in an August primary for the right to challenge McCaskill.