Entenza puts $3.6M into race

In what is shaping up as an extraordinarily expensive race for governor, Democrat Matt Entenza reported Monday spending $4 million on his campaign, tapping his wealth to fight for his party's nomination.

Entenza contributed roughly $3.6 million of his own money to the spending effort through a July 19 reporting deadline as he faces two main DFL contenders in an Aug. 10 primary. He contributed an additional $450,000 after the deadline.

His spending could signal particular trouble for the DFL's endorsed candidate, Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Entenza has spent nearly five times as much as she has, using much of the money to wage an expensive ad blitz after she secured the party endorsement this spring.

The other DFL gubernatorial contender, Mark Dayton, is a millionaire and spending some of his wealth on the campaign. He declined Monday to disclose his fundraising, but the state is scheduled to release all pre-primary reports on Tuesday. Dayton demonstrated last year that he was willing to use family money when he lent his campaign $570,000.

With more than three months remaining before the November general election, Entenza has put together more money than DFLer Mike Hatch did in 2006 in his losing contest with Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Hatch, however, did not face a serious primary contest.

Entenza is an attorney and former House minority leader, but his wife, Lois Quam, a former health care industry executive, made millions from sale of company stock.

Entenza reported accumulating $4.3 million since beginning his campaign in 2009, through July 19. Money raised from outside sources accounted for $672,483 of that total, with Entenza contributing the rest, said his spokesman, Jeremy Drucker.

Although the Republican primary isn't as competitive as the DFL contest, GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer reported raising $900,000, with about one-third of it still left to spend.

He shares one campaign strategy with Kelliher, who reported Sunday that she has raised $1.2 million and spent $852,000. Both are making much of having less to spend than either Entenza or Dayton.

Emmer pointed out that he received support from 4,480 donors with an average contribution of $195.

"Unlike the self-financed millionaires in this race, we'll need lots of help from a broad base of people to be successful," he said in a statement.

Kelliher on Sunday proposed more comprehensive financial disclosure laws for candidates, in the process drawing attention to Entenza's wife by calling for disclosure of spousal assets.

A far different picture emerges from the fundraising efforts of Independence Party candidate Tom Horner, who has gotten off to a slow start in his goal to raise enough money to be competitive.

Horner reported Monday raising just $190,000, and he has spent all but $27,574 of it.

After receiving the Independence Party endorsement in early May, Horner said he would need to raise $2.5 million to have a chance against a DFLer and Republican in the general election.

"I always knew it would be hard," Horner said Monday. "I went into it with my eyes wide open and knew it would be a very difficult challenge."

Horner said most of the fundraising effort occurred in the more than two months since his endorsement, meaning he has had less time to raise money than other candidates.

Horner said his party's lack of a sophisticated list of potential contributors has made raising money challenging. He said he has had to build a fundraising machine "from the ground up ... I don't start as the Republican and Democratic candidates do, with significant well-defined lists of contributors ... with a fundraising network," he said.

"We've only gone to people one time, so we still have a lot of contributors who I think are willing and have the capacity to give additional dollars."