BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Outside groups have made almost $3.5 million in independent expenditures so far in the competitive Indiana GOP Senate primary, according to online data from the Federal Election Commission. The bulk of the spending, about $2.3 million so far, has been by groups supporting state Treasurer Richard Mourdock's effort to defeat six-term Sen. Dick Lugar. For example, in the past 24 hours, the Club for Growth put down a $421,000 media buy blasting the Senator. But it's still not more money than Lugar's campaign has spent so far. His most recent fundraising report showed his campaign had spent $5.4 million through April 18. Meanwhile, Mourdock's campaign will report spending just more than $2 million through the same date, according to his spokesman. (more…)
