Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), who continues to insist he is running for re-election next year despite falling short of his fundraising goals, raised just $302,000 in the second quarter of the year.Bunning’s total is almost exactly half of the $603,000 that Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) raised for his Senate exploratory effort. Grayson is the preferred candidate of many Republican insiders, who view Bunning as a political dead man walking based on his poll numbers and lackluster fundraising, among other things. But Grayson has pledged that he will not run against Bunning and has said he is only preparing to run in the event Bunning steps aside. Bunning reported $596,000 in cash on hand as of June 30, which was slightly more than the $572,000 Grayson showed in the bank. Bunning was also far outraised by one of the two Democrats vying for the 2010 Senate nomination: state Attorney General Jack Conway raised a whopping $1.3 million. Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo (D) raised about the same as Bunning did, $303,000.Earlier this year, Bunning set a goal of raising $2 million for his campaign by the end of the second quarter. Through June 30, he had raised $1.2 million. He had said he if he did not meet his fundraising goals he would reassess his plans, although he has since remained steadfast in saying he is running for re-election. At least one of Bunning’s colleagues chipped in to help his re-election effort in the quarter. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), who is retiring next year, wrote Bunning a $5,000 check on May 4.