Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — State Sen. Gilbert Baker of Conway today reported raising more than $500,000 in the past month for his campaign for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.

Baker is one of seven announced GOP candidates seeking the party’s nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln in 2010. Lincoln, who is seeking her third term, has more than $3.2 million in the bank for her re-election bid.

Baker, a former chairman of the state Republican Party who announced his U.S. Senate bid Sept. 1, did not say how much his campaign has spent or has in the bank.

Candidates for the U.S. Senate have until Oct. 15 to file quarterly campaign finance reports.

“I continue to be humbled by the overwhelminging support our campaign receives and I am extremely grateful to those who have supported my campaign in a significant financial way during these tough economic times,” Baker said in a news release.

Lincoln campaign manager Steve Patterson declined comment about Baker’s fundraising but said he was not tailoring the senator’s campaign for any particular Republican challenger.

“We’re not in the business of forecasting the Republican primary,” Patterson said. “The voters still have to speak.”

The other six Republicans who have announced for the seat are: state Sen. Kim Hendren of Gravette; retired Army Col. Conrad Reynolds of Conway; Safe Foods CEO Curtis Coleman; businessmen Tom Cox of North Little Rock and Fred Ramey of Searcy, and U.S. Army veteran Buddy Rogers of Rogers.

John Gray with the Green Party also has announced.