Tag Archive for 'Paul Thissen'

2010 Gubernatorial Fundraising Cheat-Sheet [Updated x2]

by Matt Martin | 17 Comments

After getting Bakk’s numbers this morning, I was in the process of compiling where all the various candidates are in their respective fundraising efforts when I noticed that Tom Scheck over at Polinaut had beat me to the punch [UPDATE: Scheck has an even better list now].  So, in the interest of saving myself the effort, I’m augmenting Mr. Scheck’s summary with additional information I had been compiling:

Tom Bakk (D):

  • Total: $361,927 (began fundraising in mid-2008)
  • 2009 Total: $208,682
  • Cash on Hand: $133,000
  • Other: none reported.

Mark Dayton (D): [NEW]

  • Total: $641,821 (committee registered in early 2009)
  • 2009 Total: $641,821
  • Cash on Hand: $16,772
  • Other: He loaned $570,00 to his campaign (!)

Matt Entenza (D): [UPDATED]

  • Total: Over $400,000 (began around January)
  • 2009 Total: $405,286 from contributors in 2009.
  • Cash on Hand: $73,917
  • Other: Matt made a $10,000 contribution to the campaign and loaned the campaign $70,000.

Susan Gaertner (D): [NEW]

  • Total: $200,411 (began in 2007!)
  • 2009 Total: $110,828
  • Cash on Hand: $4,347

Steve Kelley (D): [NEW]

  • Total: About $200,ooo (he never closed out his 2006 committee, so there are nominal contributions in 2007 and 2008, but he didn’t really start his push for this cycle until 2010)
  • 2009 Total: $187,249
  • Cash on Hand: $39,541
  • Other: Loaned $16,400 to his campaign

Margaret Anderson Kelliher (D):

  • Total: $254,000 (formally announced in September, not sure when she began fundraising)
  • 2009 Total: $254,000 from contributors in 2009.
  • Cash on Hand: $81,000
  • Other: She made a direct contribution of $250 to her campaign.

John Marty (D): [NEW]

  • 2009 Total: $105,895
  • Cash on Hand: $18,910
  • Other: None reported.

Tom Rukavina (D):

  • Total: $135,000 (announced exploratory committee in the summer of 2009)
  • 2009 Total: $135,000
  • Cash on Hand: $60,000
  • Other: None reported.

R.T. Rybak (D):

  • Total: $278,000 (started fundraising at very end of 2009)
  • 2009 Total: $138,000 (additional $140K raised in January, 2010)
  • Cash on Hand: $25,000
  • Other: None reported.

Paul Thissen (D):

  • Total: $370,000 (began fundraising in late 2008)
  • 2009 Total: $233,000
  • Cash on Hand: $85,000
  • Other: He also loaned his campaign $20,000

Marty Seifert (R):

  • Total: $262,753 (stepped down as minority leader in June to form exploratory committee)
  • 2009 Total: $262,753
  • Cash on Hand: $133,072.
  • Other: He also loaned his campaign $20,000 and transferred $20,000 from his now defunct MN House campaign

Tom Emmer (R): [UPDATED]

  • Total: $114,852 (began this summer)
  • 2009 Total: $114,852
  • Cash on Hand: $19,154.
  • Other: via Scheck: “His spokesman said he loaned the campaign and gave in-kind contributions that amount to roughly $10,000.”

I said it once, and I’ll say it again:  The DFL numbers are blowing the GOP numbers out of the water. In fact, just for fun, let’s compare totals here:

Party Totals (so far): [UPDATED]

  • DFL Candidates: $1,849,761 ($2,419,761 counting Dayton’s $570K loan to his campaign)
  • GOP Candidates: $429,463 (includes GOP candidates I didn’t bother listing above)

Let’s not get overly-confident, but let’s also not fall for the argument that our cluttered field has dampened enthusiasm, because that is obviously not the case.

January 26, 2010, 11:55 am | Category: MN 2010: Governor | Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Surprise! Thissen has Raised a Total of $370K (Updated)

by Matt Martin | 38 Comments

Well, thank goodness I put this line in my post about Matt Entenza’s $300K in fundraising earlier this week: “Thissen’s a bit of a wild-card, but Entenza’s $300K is going to be tough to beat in this busy field.”  Otherwise I would be completely wrong, instead of just mostly wrong!  (EDIT: I was less wrong than I thought — Thissen’s total is since he formed his campaign committee in November, 2008, not since his announcement in 2009.  Thissen’s 2009 number is $253K and the total includes everything since his campaign committee formed.  This is still a very impressive number, and simultaneously reflects both the difference that an early start can make and how difficult it is to directly compare the various DFL candidates’ fundraising efforts thus far).

Yes, Rep. Paul Thissen has managed what can only be described as a minor coup by raising a whopping $370K so far.   The campaign states that the total comes from “nearly” 1900 donors.  While Thissen’s 2009 number alone is $253K, it’s splitting hairs at this point to discount early efforts; after all, candidates like Rybak only announced very recently, so each candidate has to be evaluated on their own timeframe.  I’m not sure if this compares with Ted Mondale or Mike Hatch’s pre-election year fundraising efforts (anyone have those numbers?), but it certainly places Thissen in the league of former major candidates.

A few comments on Thissen’s accomplishment:

  1. This will provide Rep. Thissen a very nice boost in both credibility and excitement as the caucuses approach.  Thissen has recently restated his intentions to abide by the endorsement, so he has certainly set the bar for himself very high given the super-delegate advantage both Kelliher and Bakk enjoy.
  2. Rep. Thissen has always been in the under-dog category of candidates but he has really taken advantage of these preconceptions by consistently outperforming and surprising.  He’s been a fun force to have injected into this field and his campaign (and campaign manager Gia Vitali) deserves quite a bit of credit for the impressive show.

Finally, and most importantly:  Between the three candidates that have announced numbers (and there are still some big-dogs to show their hand) we’re looking at nearly $900K in pre-election year DFL fundraising.  That DFL candidates will collectively break $1 million in 2009 gubernatorial fundraising is a fore-gone conclusion at this point. This is simply amazing and a testament to the fact that an admittedly crowded field has not interfered with, but perhaps enhanced, the appeal of these individually tremendous candidates.  I truly mean this (and this is why I haven’t made a decision which to support over the others), I would be ecstatic throwing my support behind any one of these guys or girls:  Entenza, Dayton, Kelliher, Rukavina (how fun would that be!?), Gaertner, Bakk, Thissen, Kelley, Marty, Rybak, the list goes on—these are all amazing individuals with very Minnesotan visions of how to govern this state and the direction we need to head to survive in this increasingly competitive world.

The DFL is fired up and ready to go.  If I were the GOP and I saw the numbers these guys are posting, I’d be shaking in my boots.

January 7, 2010, 12:17 pm | Category: MN 2010: Governor | Tags: .

The AFSCME Debate

by Zack Stephenson | 44 Comments

AFSCME hosted a debate among the DFL candidates for Governor up in Duluth the other day, and MPR was kind enough to post the audio.  Overall, the debate was very civil, and most of the candidates did not engage each other.  The one exception to this was R.T. Rybak, who took a shot at the all of the current and former legislators in the field, saying “This is not a legislative job, its a chief executive.”  Rybak also slammed Dayton (and possibly Entenza) for their positions on the DFL endorsement.

Below are my impressions for each candidate:

Steve Kelley: Kelley didn’t show me anything new in this debate.  That’s not a criticism, just an observation.  He’s the same candidate he was in 2006.  He did have a couple of odd moments.  He  took a question about the state budget deficit and ended up talking about the public option in the national health care bill.   Later on he stumbled a bit when asked how he would deal with Pawlenty’s disastrous record with the Department of Human Serives.  Kelley said he has not decided on whether to abide by the DFL endorsement.

R.T. Rybak: Came right out of the gate strong and was the feistiest candidate by far.  I already mentioned his hit on the legislators, but he also took a direct shot at Dayton at the end of the debate when all of the candidates were asked whether they would abide by the DFL endorsement.  Dayton had called the endorsement process undemocratic and said he would not abide on principle.  Rybak responded, “I will absolutely abide. No games, no equivocation.  I don’t get this baloney that a party endorsement process isn’t a democratic process.  I don’t get that.”

Mark Dayton:  This was Dayton at his best, passionate and articulate.  He had a great line when asked about jobs, “Pawlenty believes the solution to the jobs problem is to furlough [AFSCME members] from their jobs and then not show up for his own.”  Zing.  As previously noted, Dayton will not abide.

Matt Entenza: He opened up the debate by noting that he is from Worthington, which is so far south that he “doesn’t like Iowa jokes.”  I’m not sure I can support a candidate who doesn’t like Iowa jokes.  On a more serious note, Entenza did a great job of using his compelling personal story to his advantage.  It was a strong performance from Entenza.  When asked about the DFL endorsement, Entenza gave his standard answer, which is that he will abide if everyone else abides.  Of course, he said this just minutes after Dayton said he would not honor the endorsement and would run in the primary.  Pretty obnoxious.  Closed circuit to Matt, just say you are not going to abide.  You are not scoring any points by playing this little game.

Tom Rukavina:  Was entertaining as always.  Described himself as “the love child between Paul Wellstone and Jesse Ventura” and then bragged about his union made underwear.  He had a great moment later when talking about Norman Borlag.  Said Borlag only graduated from the U because of financial aid.  Asked, “how many Norman Borlags are we cheating?”  Said he would abide by the DFL endorsement.

John Marty:  What struck me most about Marty was that he is clearly stuck in the past.  He took every question and used his time to talk about budget votes in the 90s and was also the only candidate to bring up the Time “the state that works” magazine cover.  Get into this decade Marty.  Will abide (and said if he didn’t get the endorsement he’d return to the Senate).

Paul Thissen:  If you are wondering why everyone has been talking about Paul Thissen, you should listen to this debate.  Thissen sounded sharp, engaging and fresh.  Had a nice moment talking about his kid’s struggles with the health care system.  Will abide.

Susan Gaertner: Did a nice job using stories from her time as County Attorney and her personal life.  My favorite line of hers was, “I’ve raised three teenage girls, you think I’m going to have a hard time making the hard decisions?  I’m not.”  Will abide.

Tom Bakk: Spent the whole debate touting his union credentials.  Maybe not a bad strategy given this was a union audience.  Otherwise, he was pretty forgettable.  Said, “my plans are to abide by the DFL endorsement.”  Does that leave the door open just a bit? UPDATE: Sen. Bakk’s campaign emails to say “Sen. Bakk will abide by the endorsement.  The door is not open.”

Margaret Anderson Kelliher: This was not the same MAK I’ve seen in dozens of Capital press conferences.  She was very strong, sharp and showed some passion.  (that’s not to say she isn’t good in the pressers, she just usually doesn’t show a lot of passion).  She had a great answer when asked about the deficit.  A very nice performance.  Will abide.

The Bottom Line

Top performers:  Kelliher, Thissen, Entenza, Dayton, Rybak

In the middle: Rukavina, Gaertner

Not very good:  Bakk, Marty, Kelley

October 10, 2009, 2:34 pm | Category: MN 2010: Governor | Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Campaign Finance Reports

by Zack Stephenson | 83 Comments

Tis the season for state level campaign finance reporting.  In the 2010 gubernatorial race (which will occupy much of this blog’s attention in short order) we’ve got a couple of filings of note:

Tim Pawlenty

T-Paw raised $750k last year.  That’s a lot of money.  There are a couple of ways to look at this.  Most obviously, it could be a sign that Pawlenty plans to run again.  I have to admit the potency of this argument, but I’m still a skeptic.  As we have noted time and time again, if Timmy has national ambitions (and he does) it makes very little sense for him to run again in 2010.  So why would he raise all that money if he’s not running for re-election.  One question to answer first: how much of that money can be transfered into a federal account?  I actually have no idea, but my gut tells me that most of it should be transferable (Minnesota has tighter campaign finance laws than the feds).  If it can be transfered, then the fact that T-Paw has a huge chunk of money sitting around means nothing in terms of his re-election prospects.

The DFLers

Susan Gaertner raised just $46k despite being in the race since 2003 (and that is just a small exageration).  I am already ready to write off her campaign.  John Marty raised $30k “in the last nine days of December.”  I actually have very little to say about this - I think a thirty point loss (even if it was 14 years ago) should probably be a disqualifier.  Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza both did not file, but we wouldn’t really care even if they had because they both can self-fund.  This brings us to the big surprise of the reporting period:  State Representative Paul Thissen raised $115,000 in “the last seven weeks” of 2008.  For a heretofore unknown state legislator, that is pretty damn impressive.  In fact, Thissen’s campaign has been pretty impressive overall during the last few weeks.  If he can keep it up (and you have to wonder if he can - how much of that 115k came from the Minneapolis legal community?  How much more can he raise with such a narrow financial base?), he might be able to make some waves in this contest.

Of course, the big fish have still yet to get into the race.  Some other commenters have suggested that Chris Coleman and R.T. Rybak’s mayoral re-election bids will prevent them from running for Governor.  Don’t believe it for a second.  Coleman and Rybak will stay quiet until sometime in the late spring or early summer (when it would be too late for a serious re-election challenger to emerge) but I would be SHOCKED if at least one of them didn’t get into this race by this time next year.  Speaker Kelliher is also a good bet to run, but she won’t make a move until the legislative session is over.

February 2, 2009, 2:13 pm | Category: MN 2010: Governor | Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Aaron Brown Talks To Paul Thissen

by Zack Stephenson | 3 Comments

Aaron Brown has a must read interview with recently announced gubernatorial candidate Paul Thissen.  There are going to be a lot of big fish in the DFL field and a virtually unknown state legislator like Thissen is going to have a steep hill to climb, but if he keeps getting reactions like this, who knows…

If Thissen really does get into the guts of every corner of the state and really does listen, he might have an outside chance. I described my talk with Thissen to a friend this way, and I’ll stick with it now: He’s so damn reasonable. As a health care expert, he strives and generally succeeds to avoid “wonkishness,” showing a clear speaking style that makes sense — especially to independent-minded anti-ideologues. The risk with being reasonable is that voters might lose him in the shuffle of loud, emotional, and better known candidates who might join this race. But the fact is that reasonable people make good governors. Thissen is experienced but not yet a career politician. He has shown something that I have found lacking at every level of government, from dog catcher up to President: curiosity. He wants to learn more about a problem before he decides what the best solution is. And he’s also willing to talk about specific problems. We spent a good portion of our talk last week talking about the woes facing one Iron Range nursing home that is closing later this month, greatly affecting several dozen Iron Range families. Most candidates avoid specifics, but not Thissen.

Check out the whole thing.  Later today, Bluestem Prairie will have an interview with long suspected gubernatorial candidate Tim Walz.  Ollie previews the interview by suggesting that Walz is more focused on staying in Congress than running for Governor.

UPDATE: Apparently I misunderstood the Bluestem preview.  Ollie Ox writes in the comments:

The interview focused on congressional business, since policy and civic engagement is more interesting to this bovine blogger right now. Those who are interested more in the gubernatorial race should follow Brown’s excellent lead and interview declared candidates and potential contenders. Walz’s plans? People should ask him.

Bluestem’s article based on the interview is going to focus on transportation, energy policy, jobs creation, education, rural economic development, that sort of thing.

Apologies for the error. We’re looking forward to the interview regardless.

November 17, 2008, 9:39 am | Category: MN 2010: Governor | Tags: , .

It Begins…

by Matt Martin | 30 Comments

Well, it already has begun, but now that the 2008 election cycle is (mostly) over with, eyes are beginning to turn to the 2010 governor’s race. There are already a smattering of people who have declared they’re running (Dayton, Bakk, and Gaertner, to name a few) and even more who have been talked about frequently (Walz, Chris Coleman, Rybak, and Kelliher come immediately to mind). We plan to cover the field of candidates in depth shortly, but what elicited this particular post is an email that I just received:

State Rep. Paul Thissen, who yesterday filed the papers to run for Governor of Minnesota in 2010, launched his new Web site today at www.paulthissen.com. A key feature of the Web site is the “Idea Board,” a forum for Minnesotans of all walks of life to
share ideas and discuss how we can move Minnesota forward together.

“Minnesota faces serious challenges ahead. We all know that. We must meet those challenges the way Minnesota always has — with innovative leadership that offers fresh solutions and new ways of doing things,” said Rep. Thissen. “That kind of openness to innovation and fresh thinking will be a central part of this campaign.”

So, add another name to the “definitely running” list. And just to mark how official we are about 2010 getting kicked off (writing that just made me gag a little; we’re 2 years out!), I’ve created an “MN 2010: Governor” subject category where you can follow all the news that is sure to shortly change from a trickle to a flood.

In related (and boring) taxological news, the “White House ‘08” and “MN 2008: Senate” subject categories will be eliminated soon, but you can still follow the related persons (Obama, Franken, Coleman, etc.) through their corresponding “people we cover” tag. I’m sure you really needed to know that, right?

November 11, 2008, 1:17 pm | Category: MN 2010: Governor | Tags: .