By MARY SELL, Alabama Daily News
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Mike Durant, the Huntsville business owner and veteran running for U.S. Senate, raised more than $4.3 million in the last three months of 2022.
He has $2.5 million in cash on hand starting the five-month stretch to the May 24 primary.
Durant entered the Senate race in mid-October, joining a GOP field led by Congressman Mo Brooks and former Business Council of Alabama chief Katie Britt.
“Our campaign is fueled by conservatives and pro-Trump patriots who are sick and tired of the career politicians in Washington ruining our country,” Durant’s campaign said in a written statement. “Just like Senator (Tommy) Tuberville did, we will defeat the establishment backed career politicians and deliver on the America First agenda for Alabama.”
Inside Alabama Politics previously reported that Durant has been expected to partially self-fund his campaign with his personal wealth. His campaign would not offer those details, which will be public when campaign finance reports are published later this month.
Campaign finance information for Brooks and Britt wasn’t immediately available. Year-end fundraising reports aren’t due to the Federal Election Commission until Jan. 31.
Durant was a member of the U.S. Army’s 1993 Operation Gothic Serpent mission in Mogadishu, Somalia that was made famous by the movie “Black Hawk Down.” Durant was flying the helicopter that was shot down and survived after being captured by Somali forces.
After retiring from the Army, Durant started Pinnacle Solutions, an engineering and services company based in Huntsville.
Though he’s the newest candidate in the race, Durant has been making gains in polls.
The poll of 500 Republican primary voters last month showed Brooks with 31.1% of the potential votes and 26.2% for Britt in a four-way race. Durant had 16.6%.