Tag Archive for 'Tom Bakk'

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: , , , , , , , , , .

Bakk has raised $361,927 to date

by Matt Martin | 0 Comments

Bakk’s press release announces another amazing fundraising number for a DFL gubernatorial candidate:

With $137,830 cash on hand, Sen. Tom Bakk said he is in a solid financial position to win the DFL endorsement for governor in April. A legislator from Cook, who represents the Arrowhead Region of the state, Bakk is chair of the Senate Tax Committee.

“Between raising $153,245 in 2008, $208,682 in 2009, and meeting the fundraising goal for January 2010, I will have $400,000 to spend on the endorsement process,” Bakk said. “Throughout my campaign I have focused on the economy and my determination to create jobs. I’ve had an honest conversation with Minnesotans about the serious financial challenges we face. I’ve stressed that by working together we can rebound the economy, create jobs, and make the tough choices necessary to build a stronger Minnesota.

Without diving into candidate-vs-candidate analysis here (and, really, there’s not much to say on this—Bakk’s number is incredibly similar to both Thissen and Entenza’s impressive fundraising totals), I want to repeat what I said when Thissen released his similarly impressive numbers:

That DFL candidates will collectively break $1 million in 2009 gubernatorial fundraising is a fore-gone conclusion at this point [with Bakk’s numbers, it’s now a reality]. 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 26, 2010, 10:53 am | 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: , , , , , , , , , .

A Blow For Party Unity

by Zack Stephenson | 12 Comments

St. Sen. Tom Bakk, Chair of the Senate Tax Committee and 2010 gubernatorial candidate, endorsed Al Franken this week.

Bakk’s endorsement is notable because he openly flirted with challenging Franken in the primary earlier in the year.  Moreover, Bakk should have been one of Priscilla, Lord Faris’ best chances for picking up some establishment support.  With Bakk in Franken’s corner, it is even more clear that the Lord Faris’ candidacy is more a an exercise in vanity than anything else.

July 19, 2008, 11:47 am | Category: MN 2008: Senate | Tags: , , .