Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen's DFL challenger released sluggish second quarter filings this morning and the takeaway is clear: Don't expect a repeat of 2008's ad wars in the Third District -- at least for now.
Jim Meffert, a 43-year-old non-profit manager, announced this morning that he has raised $98,000 since April, bringing his total fundraising to $215,000. That's a scant sum compared with Paulsen's nearly $2 million raised this cycle ($380k this quarter).
On top of that, Meffert only has $48,000 of that left to spend, while Paulsen has about $1.3 million.
On paper, Paulsen seems like a ripe incumbent for DFlers to target (he's a freshman representing a fairly moderate district that narrowly voted for Obama). But the money trail tells a fairly different story so far.
Meffert's team credited the low posting with their lack of a primary challenger. In a statement, Meffert made every effort to contrast Paulsen with his predecessor, Jim Ramstad.
"Our district deserves better, and our grassroots-powered campaign is hard at work delivering the message to thousands of undecided voters from Brooklyn Park to Bloomington that Erik Paulsen is not the Ramstad moderate he campaigned as," Meffert said.
NOTE: This story has been updated with Meffert's cash on hand numbers.
