Novick broaches the million dollar mark

Steve Novick feels like a million bucks.

Correction: Steve Novick just passed the $1 million mark for the election cycle.

Novick’s campaign today announced that it raised $138,983.98 in April, which propelled it past the $1 million mark which was broached at the end of the first quarter of 2008 by opponent Jeff Merkley.

Novick’s fundraising pace has accelerated over the past few months; the candidate’s first quarter total was a 57 percent increase over that of the previous quarter.

"We've proven that a grassroots campaign can attract the other green stuff too," said Jake Weigler, Novick’s campaign manager.

The campaign also continued to touch on the theme that its contributions from April and throughout the campaign are overwhelmingly from within the state, also noting that in the first quarter, Novick outraised Merkley by 42 percent in itemized contributions from Oregon.

At the end of last quarter, Merkley had raised a total of $1.3 million for the cycle, and Sen. Gordon Smith weighed in with a hefty $8.3 million.