In the Mankato Free Press article, Hagedorn fundraising edges up; Walz challenger still faces cash disadvantage, Mark Fischenich reports:
Republican congressional candidate Jim Hagedorn is seeing the fundraising advantages of being the endorsed candidate rather than the insurgent.
Two years ago, Hagedorn had raised just $75,000 through the first half of 2014 when he was hoping to win a primary election and snatch the Republican nomination from endorsed candidate Aaron Miller.
Hagedorn succeeded in beating Miller, but he was in a fundraising hole throughout the general election campaign and lost to Democratic Congressman Tim Walz by 8 percentage points.
In 2016, Hagedorn has the Republican endorsement and managed to more than double his fundraising in the same period — collecting just over $190,000 (a figure that drops to $181,000 when the candidate's personal donations to the campaign are subtracted).
Looked at in another light, however, we see that Republican moneybags are dropping fewer dimes in Minnesota's First Congressional District, which stretches from the Wisconsin state line to South Dakota along the Iowa border.
In 2014, Miller, the endorsed candidate, had collected $295,681.75 by the end of June, according to his July Quarterly report to the Federal Election Commission. Add in Hagedorn's 2014 cash, and it's clear that Republican donors collectively had invested far more money in seeking to regain the seat than Hagedorn has collected this year.
Miller did employ a revolving loan system in which he'd lend his campaign money, then pay it back, to the tune of $120,000 for the cycl, while giving the committee $3500; Hagedorn had lent his committee $5000, while giving it $15475.00.
Together, both candidates sucked $370,681 out of Republican coffers, compared to $190,000 this year.
Fischenich points out the good news and bad for the Blue Earth Republican:
That's the good news for Hagedorn as he prepares for a Nov. 8 rematch with Walz. He has $43,000 more cash on hand at the end of the second quarter than he did at the same point in the last campaign, and Walz has $53,000 less in the bank.
The bad news for Hagedorn is that Walz still has a massive fundraising lead, having raised $1.15 million through June 30 and with $489,000 in cash on hand. So the Mankato resident has $10 in the bank for the fall campaign for every $1 Hagedorn has set aside.
The race doesn't seem to have captured the attention of the national handicappers or that of much of anyone.
Screengrab: On Facebook on July 18, Hagedorn let supporters know how much he loves Donald Trump: "Prospective nominees Donald Trump and Mike Pence have my complete support and I look forward to running with them and offering bold solutions to Make America Great Again!" Given that Hagedorn wholeheartedly supported TPP in 2014, Bluestem thinks that's mighty generous of him.
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