Kirk raises $2.2 million for Senate bid

Republican Mark Kirk raised $2.2 million in the first quarter of the year to finance his bid for President Barack Obama's old Senate seat.

His campaign reported Wednesday it has more than $3 million in the bank for what will be a hard-fought and expensive campaign.

Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois' first-term state treasurer, hasn't yet released his first-quarter totals.

Kirk, a five-term Congressman from Chicago's northern suburbs, has hammered Giannoulias over his role in his family's financially struggling bank. Giannoulias has rapped Kirk for being a partisan obstructionist in Washington.

Kirk was the first to hit the airwaves last month with a TV ad introducing himself to voters and highlighting his service as a Naval Reserve commander.