Posted on 07/28/2010 6:55:17 AM PDT by MplsSteve
Fueled by family money and spurred by a primary fight, spending by candidates for Minnesota governor already has eclipsed money spent on the entire 2006 gubernatorial race.
Campaign finance reports show the five leading candidates have spent $8.5 million in advance of the Aug. 10 primary.
DFLer Mark Dayton, who did not release his numbers until reports were made public Tuesday, has spent more than $3 million in his escalating ad war against DFL candidate Matt Entenza, who leads the pack with more than $4 million spent. Both have shoveled millions from their own pockets into expensive media campaigns, while DFL-endorsed candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher has had to rely on traditional fundraising to pull in slightly more than $1 million.
Entenza has spent more than $2 million on radio and advertising consulting and air time since January, and another $123,000 was spent on polling research. Cost for a series of campaign flights totaled $39,671.
Dayton was able to spend $28,000 for consulting on social media.
Their spending has put pressure on House Speaker Kelliher, who has been unable to match her opponents. She has $376,000 left to spend and no family wealth to fall back on should she win the primary.
"Money is essential in the primary," Carleton College political science professor Steven Schier said. "No one's paying attention, and you've got to really shout at them to get their attention, and television and direct mail are really the two things going on right now."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Basically, you have a trust fund idiot (Dayton) and a guy whose wife is paying for his campaign (Entenza) and the official Dem-endorsed candidate (Kelliher-Anderson) who is counting on labor unions and liberal activists to get her thru the primary.
Most alarming about this article is how little money the GOP nominee (Tom Emmer) has raised so far. I reject the assertion of Emmer's spokesperson who said that money would start to flow in after the primary.
Emmer had better start working on raising money because he's more than likely gonna be facing an opponent with deep pockets.
Comments or opinions - anyone?
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I predict Sentator Macys will win.Large Marge will be 2nd.
(not what I want, just what I think)
I actually think that Psycho Dad Dayton would be easier to beat than either of the other two.
With Pawlenty gone the only thing between us and Minnesota as Michigan 2.0 is an Emmer win
Many of the professional people I deal with on a daily basis are completely ignorant about politics and the government that controls their lives.
Your prediction is as good as any.
I’m gonna cross over and vote in the Dem primary. I’ve got no reason to vote in the GOP primary. There’s nothing to vote for.
I just haven’t decided yet who the weakest Democrat would be.
I lean towards Large Marge - but in a general election, there will be a lot of women voters (Indepedents) who’ll say “Gosh, maybe it’s time Minnesota had its first woman governor” w/o really taking the time to think about what Large Marge stands for.
Mark Dayton, for reasons I can’t fathom, has a reservoir of support in this state, particularly senior citizens who’ll crawl across broken glass to vote for him.
Matt Entenza has really nothing going for him - other than a lot of money. The good part is that he’s a blank canvas and would be easy to define. The bad part is that he’s a blank canvas and with that money, will define himself in positive ways.
Regardless of who Emmer faces, he better kick it in the ass and start raising money. He’s gonna need every cent of it over the next few months.
vote for Ole Savior...!
I went to the Emmer web site (www.emmerforgovernor.com) to look over his positions on the issues, Tom has nothing posted about energy.
Fearing another Cap & Trade champion like Tim Pawlenty I sent them note asking about his position. I've heard nothing in about two and a half weeks.
I'll not support anyone that won't make their energy position public.
“Fearing another Cap & Trade champion like Tim Pawlenty I sent them note asking about his position. I’ve heard nothing in about two and a half weeks.
I’ll not support anyone that won’t make their energy position public.”
I feel the same way as you do. However, my issue is the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for the building of professional sports stadiums.
I have e-mailed several legislative candidates and asked them how they felt about the issue and lastly, how they would have voted (were they a member of the Legislature) on the Twins Stadium bill? If they answered the right way, they’d receive a check from me.
No reply from the candidate = No check from me.
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