Tarryl Clark Shatters Minnesota U.S. House Fundraising Record for Q1 of Election Year

$500,000+ haul more than $120,000 greater than funds raised by any Minnesota incumbent or challenger this decade for Q1 of an election year; Bachmann Q1 receipts still pending

Congressional hopeful Tarryl Clark follows up her recent first ballot endorsement by the DFL with historically unprecedented fundraising numbers at this stage in the election cycle for a Minnesota U.S. House candidate.

Clark’s announcement on Tuesday that she raised $505,000 from January through March of 2010 marks the largest first quarter haul of an election year this decade.

A Smart Politics analysis of Federal Election Commission data since redistricting finds that Clark’s tally of more than a half million dollars is more than $120,000 higher than the amount raised by any challenger or incumbent in the first quarter of an election year dating back to at least the 2002 election cycle.

Of course, whether Clark’s record will hold after fundraising numbers by all Minnesota U.S. House candidates are released by April 15th remains to be seen. Michele Bachmann, whose seat Clark is attempting to win, already raised in excess of that amount ($591,000+) during the 4th quarter of 2009.

Smart Politics examined Clark’s fundraising tally versus those for each of the 64 Democratic and Republican incumbents and challengers who appeared on the general election ballot across the state’s eight congressional districts since 2002.

The candidate who previously held the highest January-March fundraising mark during an election year was Republican Erik Paulsen, who raised $382,819 in the first quarter of 2008 in his 3rd CD campaign.

Rounding out the Top 5 are DFLer Tim Walz ($353,044 in Q1 2008), Michele Bachmann ($346,644 in Q1 2008), and former DFL U.S. Representative Bill Luther ($236,945 in Q1 2002).

Clark’s gaudy fundraising numbers – vis-à-vis those of her predecessors – are the result of a variety of factors: the strength of her own candidacy, the fact there is more money in politics today than at any point in U.S. political history, the controversial nature of the district’s GOP incumbent, the fact that her DFL primary opponent is also well-funded, and the recent historical competitiveness of her 6th Congressional District.

Smart Politics recently reported that the 6th CD has been the 11th most competitive U.S. House district in the nation over the past four election cycles.

Those 2010 candidates most likely to challenge Clark’s fundraising record (Michele Bachmann, Erik Paulsen) will release their fundraising numbers within the next week. Clark nonetheless will likely hold the largest Q1 election year mark for a challenger.

DFL candidate Maureen Reed will challenge Clark in August’s primary for the right to face Bachmann in November.

First Quarter Election Year Fundraising by Minnesota U.S. House Candidates, 2002-2010

* Denotes incumbents running in new districts. Note: Includes Republican and Democratic incumbents and challengers who appeared on the general election ballot. Q1 2010 fundraising numbers for most candidates have not yet been released. FEC data compiled by Smart Politics.

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