In 8th District, Nolan steps up fundraising; Mills brings in $203K

WASHINGTON - The fundraising race in what's likely to be Minnesota's most-contested congressional district picked up several degrees after incumbent DFLer Rick Nolan announced a $265,000 haul in the first three months of the year, his biggest to date since returning to Congress in 2013.

His Republican challenger,  Stewart Mills, brought in $203,000. Nolan's campaign now has $478,000 in the bank while Mills holds $355,000.

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8th District Rep. Rick Nolan in his Washington, DC office, April 7, 2014. Brett Neely/MPR News

Nolan's total may relieve some Democrats who had privately fretted that his relatively weak fundraising could endanger the party's chances of retaining the seat they had recaptured in 2012 after the defeat of one-term Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack. Nolan returned to Congress in 2013 after a more than 30 year absence and has denounced the nonstop focus on fundraising that's now expected from members.

Mills raised less in the first quarter than in the previous two quarters he's been in the race but still holds a sizable war chest for a challenger. Moreover, Mills will likely be able to count on outside conservative groups to spend heavily on ads critical of Nolan.

Americans for Prosperity launched a $225,000 TV ad campagin against Nolan at the end of 2013 focused on the Affordable Care Act while the American Action Network (founded by former Sen. Norm Coleman) included Nolan in a $1 million ad campaign last month.

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