AUGUSTA — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is outpacing her Democratic challenger Shenna Bellows by a nearly 2-1 ratio in raising campaign cash.

Figures released by both campaigns Wednesday showed Collins had raised just over $900,000 in the second quarter of 2014, while Bellows’ campaign had raised $563,000.

Collins, seeking her fourth term in the U.S. Senate, had a total of about $4 million on hand, about seven times more than the $583,000 Bellows had in her campaign chest.

Bellows’ campaign manager, Katie Mae Simpson, said they were pleased with the second-quarter effort.

“We attracted more than 12,000 individual donations this quarter from nearly 8,500 donors, both up significantly from past quarters,” Simpson said. “Our average donation is $60, which isn’t something Susan Collins and her big-money corporate contributors can say.”

Simpson said the campaign’s grass-roots support “has been significant from the beginning and is continuing to grow heading into Shenna’s walk across the state.”

Bellows plans to walk across Maine starting in the northern town of Houlton on July 20.

In a prepared statement, Josh Tardy, co-chairman of Collins’ campaign, said they were “pleased to have hit our goals once again this quarter. Our fundraising pace continues to increase, putting us into an excellent position as we get closer to the campaign starting in earnest this fall.”

In total, Collins had raised $5.5 million; Bellows’ total was $1.32 million.

sthistle@sunjournal.com