Senator From Away Redux

OpenSecrets.org has gone live with updated fundraising stats that include the first quarter of 2008.

According to a Center for Responsive Politics staffer, it's possible that some late data may still trickle in. But for now, this new set of numbers should give us a pretty clear idea of where things stand.

The upshot? The junior senator remains vastly more popular with out of state donors than with Mainers, and a darling of business PACs. Check it out:

--Collins continues to draw the overwhelming majority of her funds from out of state: Nearly three of every four dollars she's raised this cycle has come from outside Maine.

--At the beginning of 2008, she'd raised more money in the Washington D.C. region than from any city in Maine. That's still true. But her top five metropolitan areas now include only one Maine city: Portland is sandwiched among D.C., New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

--She's raised $1,347,692 from business PACs, or about 50% more from than she has from all Mainers combined. Rep. Allen, by contrast, has received $78,050 from business PACs.

Anyone in the Maine media think that's a disparity worth at least exploring?