Former Hewlett-Packard CEO makes significant personal investment into US Senate bid

Fiorina lends campaign $2.5 million

WASHINGTON — Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina lent $2.5 million of her own money to her campaign for the Senate, an indication she’s willing to invest significant personal resources to unseat Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Fiorina also raised nearly $1.1 million in donations during her first two months in the race. After expenses, that gives her about $2.7 million going into 2010, according to her campaign.

Fiorina hopes to give California’s junior senator her most formidable re-election test, but she will have to survive what could be a challenging Republican primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

Fiorina has been vague about how much of her family’s money she would put into the race, saying she had no plans to fund it herself. She ran Hewlett-Packard Co. from 1999 to 2005. She officially entered the race in November.

She unveiled a summary of her fundraising to date, but not the entire report covering 2009, which is not due until Jan. 31.

“This is a pivotal time both for California and for the nation, and I am dedicated to the task ahead and in this race to win,” Fiorina said.

Fiorina is expected to have a clear financial edge against DeVore. Still, she has a lot of work to do to catch up with Boxer, a three-term senator who had nearly $6.4 million in the bank at the end of September. The Boxer campaign said it wasn’t ready to release its fundraising totals.

“Whether the Republicans nominate Carly Fiorina or Chuck DeVore, we are preparing for a tough and expensive race,” said Rose Kapolczynski, a spokeswoman for the Boxer campaign.

The DeVore camp also wasn’t ready to release final numbers for 2009. The campaign had about $145,000 in the bank at the end of September, but a campaign spokesman said Fiorina’s totals were not intimidating.

“This morning’s announcement from Carly for California is not alarming in the slightest,” said Joshua Trevino. “It’s actually good news when you dig into the numbers.”

Trevino particularly pointed to $830,000 in operating expenses, which he said has not allowed Fiorina to distance herself from DeVore. The GOP primary will take place in June.

(This version CORRECTS DeVore figure to $145,000 instead of $171,000.)