ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota’s gubernatorial hopefuls have burned through donations just to win the backing of their parties, and with months to go until the general election, the top contenders have relatively little money left.
Republican Tom Emmer has $296,000 saved up, while the Independence Party’s Tom Horner has about $20,000 once loans and outstanding bills have been factored in. Democrat Margaret Anderson Kelliher has the most money — $385,000 — but faces the hardest primary fight of the three party-endorsed candidates.
Former state Rep. Matt Entenza, a Kelliher rival, showed Monday how deeply he is willing to dig into a family fortune for his campaign, having now invested more than $4 million this year alone.
Most campaigns released their figures upon filing required reports with state regulators for activity from January through mid-July. The full reports showing who donated and how the money was spent won’t be available to the public until Tuesday.
Kelliher reported collecting nearly $982,000 since the start of the year, while Emmer raised about $785,000 and Horner brought in almost $190,000.
All three carry their party’s endorsement, but none has officially gained their party’s nomination and secured a spot on November’s ballot. The nominations will be decided in Minnesota’s Aug. 10 primary.
Kelliher, the Minnesota House speaker, has had to cope with two Democrats using their personal fortunes to pay for their primary campaigns — former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and Entenza. Both have spent more on television advertising than Kelliher raised.
The Entenza campaign reported spending almost $3.9 million. About $360,000 of that came from outside donors. He had $132,000 in reserve.
Most of the Entenza family’s contribution is documented in a new report covering finance activity through July 19. Entenza filed a separate report last week disclosing a more recent $450,000 contribution.
Dayton, a department store heir, didn’t plan to publicly issue his numbers until Tuesday morning, a spokeswoman said.
On the Republican side, Emmer is heavily favored in a Republican primary against artist Ole Savior, entrepreneur Bob Carney and environmental activist Leslie Davis. But Emmer’s toughest competitor, fellow state Rep. Marty Seifert, bowed out during April’s state convention. The fight for the party endorsement was a big reason for the half-million dollars Emmer spent so far in 2010.
Since each entered the race last year, Kelliher raised a total of $1.23 million and Emmer collected about $900,000. Entenza led the way with $4.35 million, although most of the money was his own.
Horner, a former Twin Cities public relations executive, has a long way to go to meet the $2.5 million fundraising goal he set for his campaign. His first report showed him well shy of the mark and indicated he was spending money almost as fast as it was coming in.
Horner, a former GOP strategist, is competing in a five-way primary with publisher Rob Hahn providing the stiffest challenge. Hahn hasn’t released his report.
Kelliher, Emmer and Horner all have signed an agreement to limit their campaign spending in exchange for a public campaign subsidy that varies by party. Kelliher has the highest subsidy in the pipeline at almost $475,000 if she survives the primary.