Urquhart, a Republican vying to oust the five-term senator, raised just $8,088 in his first three months of campaigning, in comparison with $388,000 that Hatch brought in during the same time period.

The St. George representative's cash on hand: $3,600. Hatch's: $1.93 million.

"It's not very much money, that's for sure," Hatch's campaign spokesman, Dave Hansen, said Tuesday about their GOP opponent.

Urquhart, the House majority whip, said he is just getting started. Since announcing his candidacy, he has focused on building his campaign team and attracting volunteers. Now, he will begin to turn his attention to possible donors, though Urquhart has no expectation of raising the kind of money Hatch has on hand.

"Our strategy all along is to do this on a grass-roots basis, with volunteers," Urquhart said Tuesday. "We knew from day one that it is a steep hill to climb. We have to do this one volunteer at a time."

The only declared Democratic candidate, Pete Ashdown, raised $10,641 during the time period covered by disclosures filed last week, but he spent all of that money leaving him with a deficit of $140 and loans totaling nearly $25,000.

tburr@sltrib.com