NUJournal on Quist FEC Q2 report: campaign anticipates $160,000 COH for primary push

At the end of New Ulm Journal staff writer Josh Moniz's new article, Quist plans big fundraising push, the Norseland farmer and retired college professor throws out this tidbit:

Quist's fundraising will come after the next July 15 campaign fundraising report. The report will cover the fundraising quarter from April 1 to June 30. Both Republican candidates struggled last quarter to generate much fundraising, with each raising less than half as much as prior Walz challengers during the same reporting cycle.

Quist claims he anticipates $160,000 left in his campaign fund for the upcoming reporting, with $50,000 to $75,000 having been spent over that quarter.

Last April, Quist for Congress reported $59398.38 cash on hand at the end of March, with $25,000 in outstanding loans from the candidate.

Should Quist's boasts to Moniz prove true, the Republican primary contender has significantly ramped up his haul for the second quarter FEC fundraising period. Quist took in $58,710.00 during the first quarter, including a $21,000 loan to his campaign, with $64,930.00 raised for the cycle.

Parry for Congress reported a first quarter haul of $17109.09 for a cycle total of $49,694.09, including several state-level PAC contributions from public sector unions. Parry finished the quarter with $36410.12 in the bank.

Incumbent Democratic congressman Tim Walz finished the reporting period with $708,259.20 in the bank and no debt, after having raised $217,744.61 for the first quarter, with $1,279,223.71 raised for the election cycle.

Quist shared details of his new television ad, which will be running on "every cable channel they can find in the First District" as well as "Rochester and Mankato's network channels" that include Mankato's KEYC and posted to Quist's website. Bluestem deeply hopes that Quist's webmaster will include embed codes on that bad boy.

The creative details on the ad:

The TV ad will be first by a candidate in this race. Expected to debut toward the end of this week, the ad will depict Quist holding his granddaughter Lucia Johnson and speaking about the federal debt. In the ad, Lucia will climb stairs that transform into a bar graph of federal debt levels while Quist states the US is putting its children in debt. Quist has often carried a similar graph of federal debt to most of his events. The ad will end with Quist calling for a balance of the federal budget.

Last week, Bluestem broke news that Tea Party ATM machine Michele Bachmann to fundraise for Allen Quist in Rochester. Quist thinks that Bachmann's fundraising prowess will boost his committee's bank account:

The second part of the fundraising push will be an appearance by Bachmann at a Rochester fundraiser event for Quist on July 20. The event is being held at the private residence of Dr. Scott Wright and it consists of two parts: a private $250 per ticket event at 6:30 p.m. and a $50 per ticket public event at 7:30 p.m.

Bachmann, who has had close ties with Quist and his family for years, will be encouraging those in attendance to give vigorously to Quist's campaign. She is expected to also speak about the federal budget and the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the federal health care overhaul.

Quist said he expects Bachmann's stumping to be a big fund generator for his campaign. . . .

Quist said he plans for the TV ad and Bachmann fundraising to be a "game changer" for his campaign. He is current battling it out with Sen. Mike Parry (R-Waseca) to be the Republican candidate to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in November. Quist and Parry will fighting it out until the August 17 primary after a 14-hour, 23-ballot convention failed to select a Republican nominee.

And there's this:

"I'm able to raise sufficient funds without her, but this is a lot of frosting on the cake. She has incredible draw," said Quist, "Some people have even been calling her the ATM of the Tea Party movement. That title kind of amuses me."

Thanks, Professor. We do know how to entertain ourselves on the prairie, and our readers are happy that you're able to lend a hand.

First District campaign watchers and Emo Senator fans won't have to wait until mid-October to learn exactly how much the Quist campaign withdraws via the Bank of Michele. Pre-primary reports for Minnesota federal candidates are due on August 2 for the period covering 07/01/12 - 07/25/12.

Cartoon: Allen Quist, by Ken Avidor.

Emo Senator: Mike Parry defies public sector unions by taking their campaign donations

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