Republican Kirk raises $2.3 mil in Senate bid

Republican Mark Kirk had his best fundraising quarter in his bid for President Barack Obama's old Senate seat despite the controversy over embellishments in his military record, according to preliminary numbers his campaign released Thursday.

The campaign said it raised more than $2.3 million in the last three months. It said more than $1 million of the money was collected in June after news reports surfaced that Kirk, a Naval Reserve officer, had exaggerated his military record, including claiming a prestigious award he didn't win.

"We are humbled by the outpouring of support from families across Illinois," Kirk campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement.

The campaign released preliminary numbers because it had not yet filed its campaign finance report with the Federal Election Commission.

Kirk is locked in a tight race with Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat, who has not yet released his fundraising totals for the second quarter that ended Wednesday.

In the first three months of the year, Giannoulias raised $1.2 million, significantly less than the $2.2 million brought in by Kirk that quarter.

Kirk's embellishments have been the focus of the high-profile Senate race for weeks after Giannoulias was in the crosshairs following the failure of his family's Chicago bank in April.

A string of errors and exaggerations have been attributed to Kirk, including a letter from his office that said he served in the first Gulf War when he did not. He has apologized and said he was "careless."

The Kirk campaign, which released two attack ads against Giannoulias this week, said it had about $3.9 million in the bank.