ST. LOUIS • Necessity may be the mother of fundraising, too.

Since he took office in 2001, U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, facing only token opposition to his re-election bids, has had nary a reason to maintain a robust fundraising operation.

But that could be changing, as the new Congressional map that takes effect this year eliminates the neighboring district of fellow St. Louis Democrat Russ Carnahan.

Carnahan has been adamant that he will seek to stay on Capitol Hill, but mum about which district he will run in, preferring to wait until a legal battle over the new map winds to an end.

Barring a drastic shake-up by the court, many local Democrats believe that Carnahan will challenge Clay in the primary, rather than face ex-state GOP chair Ann Wagner and her formidable fundraising in the Second District, which leans Republican (and is outside Carnahan's Compton Heights home).

Clay may have heard the same, because in the last three months, he posted his best fundraising quarter of the year, beginning 2012 on a stronger financial note.

In his disclosure submitted Tuesday, Clay reported raising $121,000 for the quarter. Compare that to his first quarter of 2011, when Clay raised only about $16,700.

Still, that doesn't quite give him an advantage over Carnahan.

Although Clay outraised Carnahan for the quarter by about $15,000, Carnahan's strong quarters earlier in the year — he reported raising about $207,000 between the beginning of April and end of June — make Carnahan the more well-funded candidate.

At the moment, Carnahan reports about $62,000 more in the bank than Clay.

Of course, their relatively similar fundraising numbers will play a limited role in a potential primary. If they do indeed face each other, both candidates will find skittish donors unwilling to contribute to an intra-party feud.

The contenders may be wiser trying to figure out how they can use the dollars they do have to get supporters to come out for an August primary — having more money in the bank means nada if the other guy has more votes.