Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) raised over $1.8 million in the second quarter of 2012, his campaign reported Wednesday. The Florida Democrat also reported nearly $11 million cash on hand.

Despite a substantially bigger war chest than Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL), the senator’s campaign memo noted ”Nelson is under attack by a handful of billionaires behind so‐called Super PACS that are pending millions on TV ads against him.” American Crossroads, backed by Karl Rove, for example just said it has reserved $6.2 million in air time to attack Nelson, on top of the $7.4 million already spent by outsider groups such as the Koch brothers and the Chamber of Commerce.

“Connie Mack IV is a seriously flawed candidate,” said Marley Wilkes, Nelson’s deputy campaign manager. “But Bill Nelson isn’t being challenged by Connie Mack IV. He’s under attack by a handful of billionaires operating in secret. And they don’t care about Florida. For them it’s all about protecting their own self‐interest in Washington.”

Tags | American Crossroads, Bill Nelson, Chamber of Commerce, Connie Mack, Karl Rove, Koch brothers, Marley Wilkes