Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne appears more and more like an easy winner in this fall’s special election for Lieutenant Governor, a race initiated when Mitch Landrieu left the position to successfully run for mayor of New Orleans.

Dardenne’s campaign reported today that they’ve raised just over $1 million in total contributions for the special election to fill the vacant seat for the state’s second highest Constitutional office. Dardenne finished the quarter with just over $747,447 cash on hand, and raised over $134,000 in total contributions for the period.

“More and more people across our state are responding to my message about growing our economy and creating jobs through an aggressive plan to strengthen our tourism industry and rebranding efforts,” said Dardenne. “Our success in fundraising and in recent polls is a strong testament to that.”

A WWL-TV poll (performed by Clarus Research, headed by former Mary Landrieu campaign manager Ron Faucheux) Aug. 20 reported that Dardenne led the eight-candidate field with 20 percent of the vote, with country singer and 2007 Lieutenant Governor candidate Sammy Kershaw at 15 percent, St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis at seven percent, Louisiana GOP chairman Roger Villere at four percent and a pair of Democrats – Caroline Fayard and former state senator Butch Gautreaux – at two percent. Some 47 percent are undecided.