Ciresi self-finances to a tune of $516 thousand

DFL U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi has spent $516 thousand on his campaign despite a pledge to not self-finance. MPR's Mark Zdechlik has the details:

Ciresi's campaign raised $294,623 during the last months of 2007. Ciresi kicked in more than $512,000 of his own money.

DFLer Al Franken raised nearly $1.9 million during the third quarter. Republican incumbent Norm Coleman took in $1.7 million.

Ciresi campaign manager Kerry Greeley says Ciresi has not gone back on his pledge not to pay for his campaign out of his own pocket.

"This is only a fraction of what he raised and we wanted to do some special things. We wanted to go up on TV and our campaign was the first to go up on TV . Mike wanted to reach a lot more people," Greeley said.

Greeley would not say whether Ciresi plans to put more of his own money into his Senate bid.

AP and the Pi Press also have stories.

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