Bachmann, Paulsen, and Kline outraising DFLers by nearly $30,000 in DFL districts and by more than $600,000 in GOP districts

A Smart Politics analysis of 2009 Federal Elections Commission (FEC) data through the first three quarters of 2009 finds that Republican U.S. Representatives Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen are not simply raising the most in-state funds among their Gopher State U.S. House colleagues, but they are garnering a significant amount of money in DFL territory.

Paulsen and Bachmann have not only raised the most money within their own districts (the 3rd and the 6th respectively), but Bachmann has raised the most money in Betty McCollum’s 4th CD and Paulsen has received the the most funds in Keith Ellison’s 5th CD and Jim Oberstar’s 8th CD.

The Republican delegation overall is thoroughly dominating the DFLers in terms of itemized individual contributions. Bachmann, Paulsen, and John Kline have outraised Tim Walz, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Collin Peterson, and Jim Oberstar in the state’s 5 DFL districts by nearly $30,000 ($259,059 to $230,493) and by a nearly 7:1 margin in their three GOP districts ($722,315 to $107,520).

Paulsen has raised the most itemized individual funds among the delegation from in-state ($461,979) as well as within his own district ($283,350). Paulsen’s 3rd CD is the wealthiest in the state, with a median household income north of $76,000 according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey.

Bachmann has raised the second largest amount of funds in-state, at $301,355, and the $67,050 she raised in her 6th congressional district is the second highest amount of in-district funds raised by the state’s U.S. House delegation.

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 6th CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
Michele Bachmann
$67,050
51.8
2
John Kline
$23,550
18.2
3
Erik Paulsen
$14,300
11.1
4
Tim Walz
$10,300
8.0
5
Betty McCollum
$5,835
4.5
6
Collin Peterson
$5,300
4.1
7
Jim Oberstar
$2,750
2.1
8
Keith Ellison
$300
0.2
 
Total
$129,385
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

Representative Bachmann’s fundraising has been the most consistent across the state this year, as she is the only U.S. Representative to rank among the Top 3 in fundraising in each of the Gopher State’s eight districts.

Bachmann was also the only U.S. member from Minnesota to raise at least $1,000 in each of the eight districts. In fact, Bachmann raised more than $4,500 in every district.

Congresswoman Bachmann also raised the most money in the 4th Congressional District, with $48,095, or 29.3 percent of all money collected by the Minnesota delegation. DFLer Betty McCollum, who represents the 4th CD, only raised the third most money in her own district ($25,075), behind Bachmann and Paulsen ($38,500).

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 4th CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
Michele Bachmann
$48,095
29.3
2
Erik Paulsen
$38,500
23.5
3
Betty McCollum
$25,075
15.3
4
John Kline
$22,750
13.9
5
Tim Walz
$19,150
11.7
6
Jim Oberstar
$5,092
3.1
7
Collin Peterson
$4,036
2.5
8
Keith Ellison
$1,300
0.8
 
Total
$163,998
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

Paulsen, meanwhile, raised more money in his 3rd CD ($296,600) than all seven other Representatives raised in their own districts combined with more than $60,000 to spare ($232,695).

Paulsen has also raised more of his total campaign funds in 2009 from in-district itemized individual contributions (33.1 percent) than any member of the U.S. House from Minnesota (with Walz being the next closest at 11.4 percent).

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 3rd CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
Erik Paulsen
$296,600
53.8
2
Michele Bachmann
$109,725
19.9
3
John Kline
$80,600
14.6
4
Tim Walz
$38,150
6.9
5
Keith Ellison
$9,200
1.7
6
Betty McCollum
$9,135
1.7
7
Jim Oberstar
$4,250
0.8
8
Collin Peterson
$3,500
0.6
 
Total
$551,160
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

As reported here Monday at Smart Politics, Paulsen also raised more than 4 times as much money as Keith Ellison in Ellison’s own 5th Congressional District – a district that has accounted for the second largest amount of itemized individual contributions thus far in 2009 at north of $200,000.

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 5th CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
Erik Paulsen
$58,364
27.8
2
Tim Walz
$57,570
27.4
3
Michele Bachmann
$29,245
13.9
4
John Kline
$26,315
12.5
5
Betty McCollum
$16,325
7.8
6
Keith Ellison
$13,400
6.4
7
Jim Oberstar
$8,600
4.1
8
Collin Peterson
$250
0.1
 
Total
$210,069
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

Paulsen earns his hat trick in the 8th Congressional District, where the total funds raised across all representatives was less than 1/20th of the money coming from the 3rd CD. Paulsen leads the way through the first three quarters with 30.4 percent of all large donor contributions, with the district’s Representative, DFLer Jim Oberstar, in second at 22.4 percent.

Oberstar has raised over $600,000 thus far in 2009, but only 0.9 percent of this amount ($5,750) comes in the form of in-district itemized individual contributions.

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 8th CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
Erik Paulsen
$7,800
30.4
2
Jim Oberstar
$5,750
22.4
3
Michele Bachmann
$5,615
21.9
4
Betty McCollum
$2,300
9.0
5
Tim Walz
$2,250
8.8
6
Keith Ellison
$1,000
3.9
7
John Kline
$950
3.7
8
Collin Peterson
$0
0.0
 
Total
$25,665
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

The three districts in which Bachmann or Paulsen have not raised the most money are the 1st, 2nd, and 7th.

In the 1st, Representative Tim Walz has taken in 73.5 percent of all large donor funds raised – the largest percentage of in-district money to any representative. The district as a whole, however, has contributed just 5.5 percent ($72,320) of all in-state large donor money for the year to date.

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 1st CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
Tim Walz
$53,145
73.5
2
Michele Bachmann
$6,575
9.1
3
John Kline
$5,750
8.0
4
Erik Paulsen
$4,500
6.2
5
Collin Peterson
$1,100
1.5
6
Betty McCollum
$1,000
1.4
7
Jim Oberstar
$250
0.3
8
Keith Ellison
$0
0.0
 
Total
$72,320
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

John Kline’s 2nd district has contributed nearly $150,000 in large donor funds, with Kline himself the recipient of 38.9 percent of that amount. Overall, 87.4 percent of such contributions were directed to the state’s three GOP representatives – Kline, Paulsen (28.1 percent), and Bachmann (20.4 percent).

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 2nd CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
John Kline
$58,125
38.9
2
Erik Paulsen
$41,915
28.1
3
Michele Bachmann
$30,450
20.4
4
Betty McCollum
$7,450
5.0
5
Tim Walz
$5,050
3.4
6
Keith Ellison
$4,800
3.2
7
Jim Oberstar
$1,500
1.0
8
Collin Peterson
$0
0.0
 
Total
$149,290
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

Finally, Collin Peterson’s 7th Congressional district, which has the lowest average household income in the state, is responsible for just 1.3 percent of the state’s large donor contributions to its eight U.S. Representatives. Peterson has received 59 percent of these funds ($10,150).

Individual Itemized Contributions Raised in Minnesota’s 7th CD, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Dollars
Percentage
1
Collin Peterson
$10,150
59.0
2
Michele Bachmann
$4,600
26.7
3
Keith Ellison
$1,000
5.8
4
Tim Walz
$900
5.2
5
Betty McCollum
$300
1.7
6
Jim Oberstar
$250
1.5
7
John Kline
$0
0.0
7
Erik Paulsen
$0
0.0
 
Total
$17,200
100.0

FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

Overall, 40.1 percent of the in-state large donor money sent to the eight U.S. House members has been directed to the Representative of that resident’s district ($529,295 of $1,319,387).

Still, for half of the members of Minnesota’s U.S. House delegation, the district from which they have raised the most money to date this year is not the district they represented in Congress:

· Tim Walz has raised more money in the 5th CD ($57,570) than in his 1st CD ($53,145).
· John Kline has raised more money in the 3rd CD ($80,600) than in his home 2nd CD ($58,125).
· Likewise, Michele Bachmann has received more money from the 3rd CD ($109,725) than from her 6th CD ($67,050).
· Jim Oberstar has raised more money from the 5th CD ($8,600) than from his 8th CD ($5,750).

The strong fundraising by the GOP delegation so far this year is both a sign of strength of their campaigns heading into the 2010 elections, but also a reminder that they represent the most vulnerable districts in the Gopher State.

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Posted in Campaign finances, Minnesota, MN US Senate, National Politics, U.S. House

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