Entenza spent over $1 million of personal wealth in the last two weeks

The Star Tribune was on top of DFL gubernatorial candidate Matt Entenza’s filing Friday to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, noting that Entenza infused his campaign with a $620,000 loan from his personal wealth. That loan follows the $450,000 that Entenza gave to his campaign only a week before. Before these new additions, Entenza had spent $3.6 million of his own money on the race.

Entenza’s campaign was already the most expensive in the gubernatorial race, but the latest injection of cash puts his campaign in a whole new stratosphere. Entenza’s $1 million from the past two weeks is larger than the total amount of money Margaret Anderson Kelliher has raised this year. Kelliher reported $385,000 cash left on hand in the last financial disclosure, and fellow DFLer Mark Dayton held $334,000 in his campaign coffers. Dayton is the other self-funded candidate in the race, using $2.76 million of his personal funds to date, but unlike Entenza, he has not filed any supplemental loans since the last disclosure period.

This late spending spree may be an indication that Entenza’s campaign is in the early stages of panic mode. Even though he has outspent both his opponents, Entenza has been slow to gain support, with recent polls showing him trailing far behind Dayton and Kelliher.