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Home | Politically Connected | State Politics

Franken pulls in $2.2 million for Senate run

Incumbent Norm Coleman still has twice as much money in the bank as his DFL challenger.

By KEVIN DUCHSCHERE and EMILY JOHNS, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: April 12, 2008 - 5:21 PM

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DFL Senate candidate Al Franken raised nearly $2.2 million in campaign contributions during the first quarter of 2008, his campaign announced Friday.

That amount surpasses the $2 million that GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign reported raising in the same period, and tops the $1.9 million that Franken pulled in during the last three months of 2007.

But Franken's campaign reported having roughly $3.5 million in the bank, about half of the $7 million that Coleman's campaign said it had on hand last week.

Coleman has raised about $12.4 million for the campaign, compared with more than $9.2 million reported by Franken.

Officials with the campaign of Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, who is running against Franken for the DFL endorsement, said the the St. Thomas professor had raised more than $250,000 in the last quarter and had about $200,000 on hand.

More than 95,000 people have contributed to the Franken campaign, officials said, of whom about 16,000 were Minnesotans -- about 17 percent.

That's considerably lower than the Minnesota ratio reported by the other campaigns. Chris McNellis, Nelson-Pallmeyer's campaign manager, said that about 95 percent of his donors are Minnesotans, while Tom Erickson of the Coleman campaign said Minnesota donors make up 62 percent of his contributors.

In other reports:

• The campaign of U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, the DFLer who represents Minnesota's First District, said that it raised $352,000 in the first quarter this year.

That makes a total of $1.5 million raised for Walz's first reelection effort, officials said. Walz has more than $1 million in the bank.

• Democrat Steve Sarvi, who hopes to challenge U.S. Rep. John Kline in the Second District race, raised $61,108 in the first three months this year and has $38,672 in cash on hand.

Sarvi, an Iraq veteran, has announced that he's resigning as Victoria city administrator on May 9 to be a full-time candidate. "We're feeling optimistic that when he has six or seven more hours a day to devote to fundraising, that things are going to improve substantially," campaign spokeswoman Bridget Cusick said.

Businessman Peter Idusogie, who is also seeking the DFL nomination in the Second District race, said Thursday that he doesn't plan to raise enough money to report until he receives the nomination.

Kline, a three-term congressman, raised $194,106 in the first quarter, leaving him with $510,000 in the bank.

kduchschere@startribune.com • 612-673-4455 ejohns@startribune.com • 952-882-9056

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