How Unpopular is Chris Dodd in Connecticut?

If the number of contributors from his home state is any indication, he may want to seriously consider retirement.

U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd appears to have looked everywhere but his home state to fuel what pundits anticipate will be one of the most hotly contested races in the nation in 2010.

The five-term incumbent reported raising just $4,250 from five Connecticut residents during the first three months of the year while raking in $604,745 from nearly 400 individuals living outside the state.

While incumbents often turn to special interests for early campaign fundraising, Dodd's out-of-state total seems unusually high and comes at a time when he has been plagued by poor approval ratings among state voters.

Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks federal campaign contributions, said Dodd's low percentage of in-state funding strikes him as unusual.

"Historically, there is no shortage of campaign money that comes out of Connecticut," he said. "In 2008, Connecticut ranked 14th, contributing $53 million to all federal candidates and parties." Ritsch also noted during his last re-election campaign Dodd, a Democrat, raised 30 percent from within Connecticut's borders.

The meager state fundraising effort also seems antithetical to a campaign strategy to rebuild confidence among Connecticut voters that he is on their side.

It would be interesting to know who those out-of-state donors are.

He took in $90,795 from Massachusetts residents, $81,550 from Texas, $56,150 from Maryland, and $53,400 from New York.

Dodd also collected $437,407 from political action committees, including two based in Connecticut that contributed $7,000. He took in $2,271 from individuals contributing less than $200 each.

Overall, Dodd's campaign reported ending the first quarter of 2009 with nearly $1.4 million cash on hand, according to campaign finance documents filed Wednesday.

The $1.4 million gives Dodd a leg up on a growing field of potential Republican challengers who have yet to file financial reports on their campaign fundraising efforts.

The war chest, however, comes at some political cost.

"Normally, it doesn't matter where the money comes from, but Chris Dodd is in a peculiar situation," said Larry Sabato, a professor of politics at the University of Virginia. "Dodd would be much better off raising as much money as possible from residents of the Nutmeg State. Everyone knows he's powerful in Washington, but that's what has gotten him into trouble. He needs to reconnect with the people in Connecticut and in-state contributions are a good way to do that."

Dodd's job approval rating -- as measured by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute -- sank to a historic low of 33 percent last month in the wake of the AIG bonus scandal. Many voters surveyed blamed Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, for allowing taxpayer money to be handed out as bonuses to the AIG executives.