Bills starts dialing for dollars
Kurt Bills is spending his first week as the GOP endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate raising money for his campaign. Mike Osskopp, Bills campaign manager, said Bills will be focused primarily on raising money for the statewide race.
"The best use of his time right now is to raise money," Osskopp said.
Osskopp said Bills will spend most of his time this week reaching out to potential donors. Bills is scheduled to be on TPT's Almanac on Friday and will attend a parade in Zimmerman on Saturday.
The emphasis on fundraising signals a shift from winning the endorsement to winning a general election. Candidates win endorsements by spending plenty of time on the phone convincing GOP delegates that they're the best candidate to represent the party in November. Now, Bills has to ramp up his fundraising to create a campaign network that can win the general election.
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Campaign fundraising reports show Bills had $33,000 in the bank at the close of the last quarter. DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar had more than 150 times that amount on hand.
The latest campaign finance report showed Klobuchar had $5.1 million in the bank on March 31. She's also holding a fundraiser tonight in Washington D.C.
Bills acknowledged on MPR News Monday that he won't be able to raise as much money as Klobuchar but said he hopes to raise roughly $5 million for the statewide campaign.