Franken: $5.9M in campaign funds

Washington – U.S. Sen. Al Franken raised $2.7 million during the first quarter of 2014 and now has $5.9 million banked for his re-election bid.

According to Franken's campaign, 97 percent of the Democrat's contributions were for $100 or less and included more than 25,000 first-time donors.

Ahead of Tuesday's filing deadline, none of Franken's leading Republican challengers — state Rep. Jim Abeler, state Sen. Julianne Ortman and businessman Mike McFadden — had reported their fundraising numbers. In the gubernatorial race, only DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican Scott Honour reported early.

U.S. Rep John Kline, R-Second District, raised $270,000 during the first quarter and reports having $1.66 million on hand.

Thomas Craft, Mike Obermueller and Paula Overby are vying for DFL endorsement in Kline's district. None have released first-quarter reports.

In the Eighth Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan's campaign reported $265,770 in donations during the first quarter and $478,000 on hand.

His Republican opponent, Mills Fleet Farm Vice President Stewart Mills III, had not released his fundraising totals. Mills had $306,000 cash on hand at the end of 2013.

Peterson's GOP challenger, state Sen. Torrey Westrom, raised roughly $84,000 by the end of 2013. Westrom has yet to release his first quarter fundraising numbers.

In the Third Congressional District, where Republican Erik Paulsen is seeking re-election, Democrat Sharon Sund reported raising almost $33,600 during the first two weeks of her campaign, which began in mid-March. So far, Sund is the lone challenger to Paulsen, who had $1.7 million in cash reserves at the end of the 2013.

Meanwhile, Dayton's $189,000 fundraising total for the first quarter was bested by Honour's $250,000, although a fifth of that total came from Honour himself.

Dayton reported having $733,114.86 on hand. He raised $1.1 million in all of 2013. Honour, one of six Republicans vying for the party endorsement to run against Dayton, reported that he brought in $200,000 in the first quarter from other individual donors. Honour, who did not release his current cash on hand, raised $614,766 in 2013.

Another challenger, former Minnesota House Minority Leader and second-time gubernatorial candidate Marty Seifert, did not release his first-quarter numbers as of Monday evening but said the campaign had more than $139,000 on hand as of March 31. The campaign said Seifert last week hired a paid fundraiser.

corey.mitchell@startribune.com • 202-383-6121