Gary Peters

Freshman Rep. Gary Peters kept up his fundraising tear for a second straight quarter, pulling in $475,000 in receipts and ending June with $847,000 in cash reserves.

Peters’ $434,000 during the first three months of this year ranked him fourth among Democratic freshmen and sixth among all Democratic incumbents in first-quarter fundraising, and he is likely to again be one of the top fundraisers this quarter.  

Peters represents Michigan’s 9th District, encompassing the suburbs north of Detroit. He used the region’s economic anxiety to help him unseat eight-term Republican Joe Knollenberg in 2008, but the GOP is hoping to turn the tables in 2010 and political observers expect the race to be tight.  

That is, if Republicans can get their act in gear — Peters’ leading challenger has yet to ramp up his fundraising activities, which is bound to exacerbate the challenge of closing the resource gap with the incumbent. Paul Welday , a public affairs consultant and former Knollenberg aide, reported raising less than $4,000 in contributions since announcing his candidacy April 15. Add to that personal loans totaling $101,000 and Welday ended the quarter with $105,000 cash on hand. No word back from the Welday campaign on the slow fundraising start.