Battles for US Senate seats fierce, costly

In Montana, incumbent GOP Sen. Conrad Burns' re-election effort is drawing record contributions. But in Minnesota, the Republican vying to replace an open Senate seat has for the first time in the race slipped below his Democratic rival's fundraising pace.

In Connecticut, the campaign for Ned Lamont, the Democratic challenger to Sen. Joe Lieberman, said it has raised and spent $1.9 million in the last two months over half of it the candidate's own money.

The campaign was left with $276,976 on hand at the end of the most recent reporting period that ended June 30. Lamont, a Greenwich millionaire, received $829,936 from nearly 15,000 people and contributed $1.1 million to his campaign himself.

Lieberman's earlier filing showed he has nearly $4.3 million cash on hand and raised $1.3 million during the two-month period.

The deadline for submitting the latest financial reports was Saturday.

As the front-runner for the Republican nomination, Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele has the full backing of state and national GOP leaders. Help from President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on down helped Steele overcome Rep. Benjamin Cardin's early lead.