politics

The presidential campaign finance sweepstakes playing out in Minnesota isn't exactly echoing the big national headlines.

On the Democratic side, the big national story has been Sen. Barack Obama's torrid fundraising pace, easily blowing past the front-running machine of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Not so in Minnesota, where Clinton remains comfortably ahead.

On the Republican side, national reporters have undertaken a death watch for the all-but bankrupt campaign of Sen. John McCain. But in Minnesota, McCain has been raising more money than any other Republican.

Those differences emerge from new figures released Sunday by the Federal Elections Commission, detailing how candidates did in the money race during the second quarter of the year.

For all the differences in fundraising patterns statewide and nationally, similarities also abound.

Overall, Democrats are far ahead in the money race, a reversal from previous election cycles. Statewide, Democratic candidates raised $781,322 to the Republicans' $535,542.

Beyond the so-called Big Six in the race (McCain, Clinton, Obama, Rudy Giuliani, John Edwards and Mitt Romney), the remaining candidates are clearly struggling, none of them able so far to break into six figures.

And a money-raising race that started earlier and more furiously than any other has become even more torrid, as contributions have ramped up in the past six months. The $468,063 raised in Minnesota by the top three Democrats during April, May and June was more than double the amount raised in the first quarter. The Republicans' top-three haul of $333,310 also more than doubled their first-quarter take. Similarly, the number of Minnesotans contributing to all of those candidates has more than doubled.

Fundraisers provide spark

Clinton and McCain benefitted enormously from private fundraisers they held in the Twin Cities last month.

Clinton's campaign reported raising $132,400 from 85 donors during hers; McCain raised $76,400 from 51 supporters during his. In both cases, the sums represented nearly half of the candidates' Minnesota contributions during the second quarter of the year.

By comparison, Obama reported raising $11,570 during a fundraiser held after a June 29 rally in Minneapolis.

The list of contributors is crowded with A-list names from both parties: Boschwitz, Pillsbury, Whitney and Eibensteiner on the Republican side; Dayton, Kaplan, Pohlad and Cowles on the Democratic side.

And the campaign data show just how heavily some candidates are relying on their deepest-pocketed donors. Clinton reported that 15 have "maxed-out," already contributing the legal limit of $4,600 for the primary and general election campaigns. Giuliani listed 13 maximum contributors. No other candidate came close.

Clinton and Giuliani reported the largest average donations, $1,275 and $1,169, respectively. In declining order, they were followed by McCain ($703), Romney ($633), Obama ($473) and Edwards ($200).

Edwards also reported receiving the single smallest contribution during the second quarter: $6.10 from a woman living in Mendota Heights.

Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184 • vonste@startribune.com