WOW!
Ashwin Madia, the DFL-endorsed candidate in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, today announced that his campaign raised $692,940.62 during the second quarter of 2008…
Based on numbers provided in a press release issued by Republican opponent Erik Paulsen on July 8th, Madia out-raised Paulsen in the second quarter. Additionally, Madia’s cash on hand is $738,148.83, shrinking Paulsen’s cash on hand advantage by 27 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008, which ended March 31. Madia’s fundraising accomplishment comes despite not having won the DFL endorsement until April 12, and despite Paulsen’s clear sailing for the Republican endorsement during the same period. Unlike Paulsen, Madia does not accept corporate PAC contributions.
Also, Madia did not have the sitting Vice President raise money for him.
This is just unbelievable. Ashwin Madia has done nothing but confound every expectation since he entered this race as an unknown last year. In nine months time, he has built an amazing political organization from scratch, generated unprecedented enthusiasm among CD 3 DFL activists, defeated the prohibitive favorite for the DFL endorsement and now outraised the former Majority Leader of the Minnesota House.
Erik Paulsen should be afraid…very afraid.
The full Madia release is after the jump. UPDATE: The extended entry isn’t working, we’ll try to fix that bug; the extended entry link works now, although it’s not as flashy as it once was…
Madia Raises More Than $690,000 in Second Fundraising Quarter
MAPLE GROVE — Ashwin Madia, the DFL-endorsed candidate in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, today announced that his campaign raised $692,940.62 during the second quarter of 2008.
Since announcing his candidacy in October 2007, Madia has raised a total of $1,052,812.05.
“The outpouring of support we have received shows how much the people of the 3rd Congressional District believe in this campaign,” said Iraq war veteran and DFL-endorsed candidate for Congress Ashwin Madia. “I am honored to have the support of so many Minnesotans and am thrilled to see the local dedication to make our community a better place for middle class families. This campaign is about taking our country in a new direction. We are fighting to turn our economy around, reduce gas prices and responsibly bring our troops home from Iraq – a message that is clearly resonating throughout the district.”
Based on numbers provided in a press release issued by Republican opponent Erik Paulsen on July 8th, Madia out-raised Paulsen in the second quarter. Additionally, Madia’s cash on hand is $738,148.83, shrinking Paulsen’s cash on hand advantage by 27 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008, which ended March 31. Madia’s fundraising accomplishment comes despite not having won the DFL endorsement until April 12, and despite Paulsen’s clear sailing for the Republican endorsement during the same period. Unlike Paulsen, Madia does not accept corporate PAC contributions.
Madia is a graduate of Osseo Senior High School, the University of Minnesota and New York University Law School. He was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps who served in Iraq. Before launching his campaign, he was an attorney with the Minneapolis-based law firm Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP.
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Wow…that’s a big number!
Say, Zack?
Care to share the percentage of those donations that came from Minnesota?
Indeed, for we all know that non-MN donations should only count half.
Absolutely blow-away staggering…
If we’re making up rules on how to count donations, then those raised at a closed, private fundraiser with Dick Cheney should only count by 1/4.
“If we’re making up rules on how to count donations, then those raised at a closed, private fundraiser with Dick Cheney should only count by 1/4.”
Actually, all those people should be shot in the face for their trouble.
Exciting news, especially compared to expectations, which they managed really shrewdly. That plus thousands of basis points of DCCC ads gives Madia a lot of resources. And future fundraising is always easier when past fundraising has been a success.
“Actually, all those people should be shot in the face for their trouble.”
The true believers are willing to pay extra for that.
That’s very, very impressive.
Wowza.
That’s a huge number.
Ashwin Madia just blew away every expectation. I think he will be the next congressman from the third district.
Rasmussen has Franken up by 2.
woo hoo
He is going to win, point blank period. That will leave 2 Republicans, assuming they win re-election would may not happen with Obama up 18% in the latest Rasmussen poll.
Oh, money from Hollywood or in New York spends just as well here as it does anywhere…but goven the fact that “Porn-O-Rama” Franken has only managed to get 17% of his total campaign stash from the voters he hopes to woo (not counting anything that mignt have found it’s way in there from the Gloria Wise Childrens charity), I figured it might be interesting to readers to know where Madia is hauling his cash in from.
Of course this is a Democrat blog, so I understand the silence if you think posting this information might prove embaressing.
This is a great number, made even greater by the odds against Madia in this quarter. He got a late start, not being endorsed until April 12. Add to that Paulsen’s acceptance of PAC money and his fundraiser with Dick Cheney, and he should have won by a landslide.
I get the sense this is only the first of many times Madia will upset Paulsen. I can predict the last, though: November 4.
The Patriot beats the Partisan Career Politician!
While Paulsen was causing a logjam at the state capitol and receiving favor after favor from donors, Ashwin was serving in Iraq. Ashwin doesn’t owe anyone anything. Paulsen does.
Ashwin beat Erik today, and he will beat Erik in November. Go Ash!
With the support base the Ramstad had, Paulsen should have been in the driver’s seat for this race. Even with this advantage, he still got beat. Come November 4, Madia will beat him again.
A Strib headline on Thursday, July 10th read: “Republicans Appear To Have Fundraising Lead in Second and Third Congressional Districts.” A headline in today’s Strib reads: “DFL Congressional Hopeful Madia Leads Fundraising Race In Second Quarter.” Could this be the same 3rd Congressional DFL candidate that “appeared” to be trailing in fundraising on July 10th? Obviously the Strib reporter or headline writer first assumed the right to anticipate what might happen and then assumed the Madia campaign’s silence meant diminished funding. Assumptions like these poison public discourse.
Well, deesent, it just goes to prove the adage about assuming….makes an ass out of u and me. The Strib has let go so many reporters that they have become little more than parrots for press releases with no thought.
Except that both headlines are still 100% true.
Mon, true. However, the latter headline is accurate.
Impressive number for Madia. Give him credit.
I wouldn’t overplay the “odds against Madia” as Rosenberg does. The fact is that the primary battle was good for candidate exposure. Through the timing of the 3rd CD convention, Madia has spent over 2 times what Paulsen did, much on exposure and creating name recognition. And Madia didn’t exactly begin his campaign on April 13. He has been going all-out since the fall. But still, credit to Madia’s camapaign.
I hear that Madia isn’t taking money from PACs. But how is it different when five of the top ten donors are unions, and the top overall donor to his campaign is ActBlue, whose 1-line description on their own website is
“A PAC allowing individuals and groups to channel their progressive dollars to candidates and movements of their choosing.”
???????
In fact, Act Blue had given more to Madia (through Q1) than Bonoff and Paulsen’s top donor organizations had given to them combined. So Act Blue has given more to this district race than any other group by nearly three times, and I’m supposed to not call them a PAC even though they desribe themselves as one on their own website??
Wow, over $252,000 from PACs. http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00440370/349723
Robins Kaplan PAC — described as a lawyer, lobbyist PAC
I thought Ash didn’t take corporate PAC money?
Madia doesn’t accept CORPORATE PAC money, unlike Paulsen. He has always been clear about that throughout his campaign.
This is still an outstanding result, especially considering Paulsen’s connections in the GOP for many years and help from VP Cheney’s appearance at a fundraiser this quarter!!
Maybe what Madia means is that he doesn’t take PAC money from “mean” PACs. Mean, in this context, is determined by him as he wishes.
So if I’m an individual who gives to my Union’s PAC, that money can go to Madia.
If I’m an individual who gives to ActBlue, that money can go to Madia.
If I’m a group (any type of group) who gives to ActBlue, that money can go to Madia.
If I’m a lawyer who works for RKMC and give to its PAC, that money can go to Madia.
If I’m part of a business and give money to my employer’s PAC, he doesn’t take it and it is a badge of honor.
33% of Madia’s money is from PACs. Let’s not attempt to distinguish that some PACs are noble and others are sleazy, and the word “corporate” cleanly distinguishes the two.
ActBlue may be a (noncorporate) PAC for purposes of campaign finance law, but it functions entirely as an internet clearinghouse for individual small donors. No lobbyist or corporate chieftain decides who gets the money. Individuals click on (Democratic) candidates of their own choosing and give small amounts. ActBlue passes it through to the candidate. In terms of assessing grass-roots strength and political influences, that is just a bundle of small individual contributions, not a PAC donation.
Robins Kaplan PAC is a corporate PAC
Beautiful. Now we’re going to be treated to a bit of parsing of what a “PAC” is by the party that still hasn’t figured out what the meaning of “is” is.
I donated to the Madia campaign through http://www.votevets.org, which operates through actblue. I live here in the 3rd, and donated through votevets because it supports veterans running for office all over the country. I selected Madia as the recipient of my donation and allocated a small $5 contribution to votevets so that they could continue their website and help veterans win elections.
I know quite a lot of people who gave to Madia through votevets. Votevets supports Patriots who want to make a difference and work for US, not some corporate fatcats. Votevets is certainly not going to be calling and telling anybody how to vote on anything! Where is Paulsen’s money coming from?! Oh that’s right — Dick Cheney.
Swiftee, maybe you should be a little more concerned that McCain doesn’t seem to know after 2 days of speeches that Checkoslovakia doesn’t exist anymore.
SWD. Is Robins Kaplan PAC a corporate PAC or not? Talk about fatcats.
Madia took money from a corporate PAC when he explicitly said that he would not.
“Beautiful. Now we’re going to be treated to a bit of parsing of what a “PAC” is by the party that still hasn’t figured out what the meaning of “is” is.”
Oh, that’s pretty clear.
Mark Foley IS a former republican congressman who harasses underage pages.
David Vitter IS a republican senator who wears diapers, and frequents prostitutes.
Larry Craig IS a toe tapping bathroom goblin.
Tom Delay IS under indictment
Duke Cunningham IS a felon
Bob Ney IS also a felon
Need I go on?
Here is a stat for you all:
% of Paulsen’s individual contributions from Minnesota: 90%
% of Madia’s individual contributions from Minnesota: 31%
Oh yeah, but Madia doesn’t take corporate PAC money. Oh wait — he does.
Robins Kaplan’s PAC is NOT a corporate PAC. It is a partnership PAC, which is a completely different thing from a corporate PAC under campaign finance law. This website has all the info: http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/partner.shtml
I was hoping one of you leftards would try to parse the difference.
What a joke.
“I was hoping one of you leftards would try to parse the difference.”
Unfortunately for you, one of them ‘leftards’ simply linked to the FEC rules.
Thanks for elevating the conversation.
True leadership doesn’t rely on technicalities.
“Thanks for elevating the conversation.”
by saying something like this
“all those people should be shot in the face for their trouble.”
Sound familiar?
Unfamiliar with internet traditions, are we?
That was called ‘snark’ and should not be taken as an attack on any individual or group on this board.
See the difference?
@ DTM
“True leadership doesn’t rely on technicalities.”
What are we, if not a nation of laws and rules?
ActBlue and VoteVets are good websites since one can have ‘one-stop shopping’ for their favorite candidates like Ashwin Madia and Steve Sarvi and Tim Walz.
The individual donations may not be large, but it is good to see they add up.
“shot in the face” = snark
but leftard is objectionable. Gotcha.
Glad you’re catching on, MoN. See….even republicans can develop a sense of humor if they take a little time to think (or if the joke is spelled out)
I donated to the Madia campaign via Act Blue and, last I checked, I am not a corporate PAC and I live in MN. Because the FEC report lists the Act Blue donations as coming from Maine the %’s donated from MN figures are not a fair analysis.
It is refreshing that even as a candidate Madia has delivered on his promise. He said he would work hard and he has. Not only did he outraise Paulsen, who should have had every advantage after serving as a loyal Republican for 14 years, Madia raised the second highest of any non-incumbent congressional candidate in the country last quarter! It is also refreshing that even though Madia is not your typical politician his message is resonating with so many people.
“shot in the face” humorous? Only to a leftard.
Master of None, I agree 100%,
These leftards are leftards. Everyone knows this takes down moonbats very well.
Thank you for representing the Republican base so very well.
The undecided voters should be very impressed.
Great Job!
“The undecided voters should be very impressed.”
Yes, leftard is far more ominous than “shot in the face”. I can see how undecided voters might regard the ultra-violence insinuated in the term leftard.
Get a new schtick Tommy.
Master of None, I agree 100%,
Shot in the face refers to the actions of Vice President Cheney. Everyone knows that was Harry Whittington’s fault. harry even publicly apologized for what he put Vice President Cheney and his family through by getting in Vice President Cheney’s line of fire.
leftard, on the other hand, works well because it is common knowledge leftards are communist fascist marxist leftist socialist moonbats who hate America and want to surrender to terrorists.
Because we Republicans are 100% right on every issue, we get to decide what is shocking and what is not. Anyone who disagrees with Republicans is 100% wrong.
Great Job Master of None. Your name is certainly appropriate.
Let’s get this back to the facts:
Paulsen’s donors are 91% local Minnesotans. Madia’s are 31% and 69% out of state. Even if I assume that half of all Act Blue donations are coming from people in Minnesota, Madia still struggles to show 50% of his dollars coming from MN, let alone the 3rd CD.
It is great that he is raising money, but let’s not pretend this is some kind of grassroots, district-activitist fundraising. Much of Madia’s support is coming from people who he will never represent, while Paulsen is getting his impressive dollars from people who want him to be their Congressman.
Oh Dan, there you go continuing with the “hes not from here” theme….
DTM - “while Paulsen is getting his impressive dollars from people who want him to be their Congressman.”
And how did you come to the grand conclusion that all Paulsen’s money came from the 3rd CD. Did you do any analysis ?
A chunk Paulsen’s money came from a private Dick Cheney fundraiser. When did Cheney move to Minnesota???
SWD -
You are really hung up on a Dick Cheney fundraiser. I’m sorry you can’t see past that. A couple points:
1. Even the richest of the richest Orono millionaires can only donate $2,300.
2. Donations are tracked by the home address of the person who gave, not what type of fundraiser it was raised at or where the fundraiser was held.
And the numbers stand: 91% Minnesota-based giving to Paulsen, and 31% Minnesota-based giving to Madia. I personally would like to see this race decided by to-be constituents, not national interests.
DantheMan, I agree 100%,
Thank you for repeating “91% Minnesota-based giving to Paulsen” many many times in this thread. It is exceptionally smart to re-state the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again.
This works especially well on those of us who already have already read that over and over and over and over and over.
I think, however, there are still some moonbats who don’t get it. Maybe you need to mention that a few more times, because everyone knows that will trigger an epiphany, and they will know hey have been taken down.
In addition, your source for that information has not been posted anywhere, despite your frequent repeating of the same thing over and over. That link would help take moonbats down even further. Post that link over and over and over and over again, please.
Great Job, DantheMan.
Thanks for the reminder, TFRWG. Amidst your paragraphs of drivel, there are useful nuggets of information.
My source is the FEC, at http://www.fec.gov/disclosuresearch/maphsapp.do?drilllevel=state&statename=mn
You can pull the info for any candidates from the drop down box. I should caution you: You have to do math to arrive at the percentages I did, but alas the reports are downloadable into Excel so it makes it quick work.
Why do I repeat myself? Because my observation is that liberals, while being very good at interpreting impassioned pleas and responses, are not so good at interpreting numbers from the world we live in. They would rather gloss over the numbers I present and skip to an impassioned plea. So, I feel the need to repeat myself when it comes to facts and figures. On impassioned pleas, you can be assured I would only make the statement once.
Great job, TFRWG. “Keeping them honest”. Great work.
DanTheMan - “And the numbers stand: 91% Minnesota-based giving to Paulsen, and 31% Minnesota-based giving to Madia. I personally would like to see this race decided by to-be constituents, not national interests.”
There u go dodging the question. How do you know that all those Minnesotans are from Paulsens CD3 district.
You are the one who seems to be glossing over my question. Oh, never mind, the “outsider” meme is just another talking point for DanTheMan.
Great point, rm. I’m showing that about 61-62% of Paulsens donors live in CD3.
Haven’t run the numbers for Madia yet, but given that only 31% of his donors live in Minnesota, it will be a fraction of that.