Democratic Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton raised $322,000 in the second half of 2011 and enters the 2012 election year with about $591,000 in the bank, according to a campaign finance report filed this week.
It's not easy raising money as the relatively unknown lieutenant governor, but Dalton recently is getting attention, and sparking intrigue, about an upcoming high-dollar fundraiser featuring some of the state's biggest Democratic names.
Three Republicans are vying to challenge Dalton in the November election: Tony Gurley, Dan Forest and Dale Folwell. Of the three, only Folwell has reported fundraising numbers from the previous six months. As the No. 2 Republican in the House, Folwell raised $10,500 and has $73,000 cash-on-hand. He just entered the lieutenant governor's race earlier this month.
