Federal Elections Commission

The Federal Elections Commission has released a full report of the 2007-08 election cycle, and two Minnesota races top the lists. Sen. Al Franken raised the most money of any congressional candidate with $22.5 million, and former Sen. Norm Coleman was a close second with $19.3 million.

Like a plane from Washington, D.C., descending into Minnesota through iffy Midwestern weather, former Sen. Norm Coleman’s financial support from individual donors took a long, bumpy decline. A week-by-week analysis of new Federal Elections Commission reports shows that receipts from individuals reached a high point around the time Coleman’s election-contest trial began Jan. 26, then trended downward through his concession on the last day of June.

Second quarter political fundraising reports are due to the Federal Elections Commission by Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar appears to be the first member of the Minnesota delegation to file, reporting revenue of $238,807 in the period from April through June.

Norm Coleman shouldn’t be able to use campaign funds to pay lawyers for work related to cases in which he’s not a defendant and hasn’t even been called as a witness. That’s what Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) told the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today.

Back in December Norm Coleman said he would seek clearance from the Federal Elections Commission to use campaign funds to cover personal legal bills. But he never followed through. In the meantime the former senator continues to rack up astronomical legal bills as he pursues the U.S. Senate contest.

Franken’s campaign wrote the Federal Elections Commission last week seeking permission to set up a new fundraising committee and another fund to help offset costs of a race that it called “virtually unprecedented in its length, complexity and expense.”

Since 2000, the Republican Party of Minnesota has had problems complying with the Federal Election Commission’s requirements for reporting, a fact made painfully clear over the last month as the party has amended virtually every report it has made since 2002. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is responsible for enforcing election laws pertaining to contributions [...]