Campaign Notebook: Q3 Fund-raising Totals Rolling In

The impressive:

Although she wouldn’t confirm it at the time, Terri Bonoff’s Q3 total (10 days of it, at least) of $88,500 is both impressive and pretty darned close to the number MN Publius reported several days before the official report.  Where does the $770,000 Jim Ramstad had on hand before announcing his retirement end up?  That, dear readers, will be an account worth watching.

The not-as-impressive:

Republican state Rep. Randy Demmer raised just $35,000 from individuals other than himself.  Totals like these aren’t going to cut it against first-term Congressman Tim Walz, D-Mankato, who raised about a quarter million in the third quarter — a total that was actually dented by the collapse of the I-35W bridge and the flood disaster in southwestern Minnesota, removing valuable fund-raising time from Walz’s schedule. 

Senate candidate Mike Ciresi raised just more than $300,000 in the third quarter.  In a race generating plenty of national attention and much larger fund-raising totals, this number doesn’t look great.  However, Ciresi has publicly assured supporters that he would have the money to compete in the race, raising the question of whether he would supply his campaign with funds from his personal fortune.

More to come this week, as final Q3 money totals are reported.