SALEM, Ore. -- Portland activist Steve Novick has passed the $1 million mark in fundraising for his U.S. Senate campaign but still is lagging behind his Democratic rival, Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, who's raised $1.8 million so far.

The two Democrats are battling for their party's nomination in the May 20 primary for the chance to run in the fall against Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who continues to rake in campaign cash. Smith has already raised $8.5 million, according to his latest filing.

In the Democratic fight, Novick has cast himself as the grass roots progressive who's taking on the hand-picked candidate of the national Democratic Party.

Novick's federal election report shows that he raised $139,000 in the month of April, with about 77 percent of that amount coming from Oregon donors.

Merkley's report lists $235,000 in donations during April, with about 30 percent coming from contributors in Oregon and the rest from outside the state. In addition, Merkley loaned $250,000 to his campaign last month.

Merkley spokesman Matt Canter said Merkley is going to need to raise money both in Oregon and around the country for his effort to unseat the well-funded Smith this fall.

"Gordon Smith has stockpiled millions of dollars" for his re-election, Canter said. "It's going to take a national network of progressives to defeat him in November."

But Novick spokesman Jake Weigler took aim at the large amount of out-of-state money Merkley has raised in this primary campaign.

"Grass roots enthusiasm by Oregon voters is key to beating Gordon Smith. It's going to take more than money to beat Gordon Smith," Weigler said.

Both Merkley and Novick have been spending much of their money on TV ads as the primary campaign enters its final weeks. Their reports showed that Merkley had $151,000 cash on hand at the end of April, compared with $66,000 for Novick.

Smith, meanwhile, listed $4.8 million cash on hand. And although he's facing only token opposition in the GOP primary, Smith already has taken to the airwaves with TV commercials blasting both Merkley and Novick in anticipation of running against one of them in November.