Why no Huckaboom in Minnesota?
Bill Salisbury with the Pioneer Press writes a great story on Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's meteoric rise in Iowa. One of the fascinating lines in his piece is this:
Iowa may be a must-win state for Huckabee. Unlike Romney and Giuliani, who have well-financed national campaign operations, he has little money and almost no organization outside Iowa.
That was apparent at the Minnesota Republicans' State Central Committee meeting Dec. 8 in Blaine. Romney, Giuliani, Thompson, Hunter and Paul had volunteers at tables handing out lapel stickers, posters and T-shirts to the party's 300 leading activists. The Huckabee campaign was AWOL.
Carey, the party chairman, said he couldn't even find a Huckabee contact in the state, much less get national campaign operatives to return his phone calls.
I was told by someone that former Governor Al Quie was backing Huckabee but Quie just told me that it was "strictly humor and rumor."
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I checked the FEC site to see who is supporting Huckabee in Minnesota. Here's what I found:
Total number of Minnesotans who gave to Huckabee through 9/30: 12
Total contributions from Minnesota donors: $5911
Largest contribution: Peter Schoon of Orono gave at total of $1600. He's the CEO of System Support Solutions.
Smallest contribution: Larry Orth, a Calvary Church Pastor in Rochester, gave $30.
Interesting tidbit: Two Wal-Mart employees gave to Huckabee's campaign. Kimberly Little, of Maplewood, is a Wal-Mart cashier. Wendy Jones, of Bovey, is a stocker for Wal-Mart.
Of course, all of these contributions came before Huckabee started surging in the polls. Expect to see a few more Minnesota names on the updated list.