Bachmann and Clark donations from political elites
Eric Ostermeier, one of the sources in my story today about Rep. Michele Bachmann's and State Senator Tarryl Clark's fundraising, has analyzed how much of the two candidates' funding is coming from current or past politicians--what he calls "political elites."
Ostermeier says that while Bachmann is slightly outperforming Clark in donations from Minnesotans overall, Clark has an advantage in donations from political elites.
Politicians donating to Clark range from DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton to Edina Mayor James Hovland.
Ostermeier raises these questions:
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Are political elites from the GOP not donating money to Bachmann because they know the well-funded incumbent does not need their donation, because they do not support her candidacy, or because they believe there is too great of a political risk in supporting such a controversial candidate?
Ostermeier also notes that Bachmann may be happy not to get donations from political types, insofar as she has "prided herself on not being an establishment candidate."
Speaking of Bachmann's fundraising...the official documents she filed in July showed that she had pulled in more than $4 million by that point. Campaign manager Gina Countryman says that number is now closer to $6 million. Clark's campaign declined to specify how much more money they've pulled in since their July filing, at which point they said they had about $2.4 million.