Clinton, Sanders raise thousands in Minnesota

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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned in Minneapolis for the Democratic Presidential nomination on May 31, 2015. Matt Sepic | MPR News

Minnesota campaign donors have been kind to two leading Democratic presidential candidates who have traveled to the state: Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Clinton, who made a brief stop in Minnesota in late June, has raised nearly $560,000 from people living here. That's only a fraction of the $47 million Clinton raised in the first quarter for her campaign, but it's a relatively large haul compared to fundraising in most other states.

It's difficult to say exactly how much Clinton collected as a result of the fundraiser, which was hosted by real estate advisor Lou Frillman and his wife, Carol, at the home of Ellen Goldberg Luger, who was the long-time director of the General Mills Foundation and is married to Andy Luger, United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota.

But at least $187,000 of Clinton's total Minnesota fundraising so far came during the days right before and right after the June 22 fundraiser from Minneapolis and Saint Paul addresses - all in increments of $2,700, the minimum cost of the fundraiser and the maximum individuals can give during the primary.

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Among Clinton's most generous donors are Gov. Mark Dayton, his ex-wife and prominent DFL donor Alida Messinger, and Dayton's Lt. Gov. Tina Smith.

Meanwhile, Sanders, who is challenging Clinton from the left, made a stop in Minneapolis at the end of May.

So far, Sanders has raised $15 million, and more than $12,000 has come from people living in Minnesota. Again, that's a sliver of Sanders' overall fundraising for the quarter, but Minnesota was more generous to Sanders compared to most other states.

Sanders visited Rochester in early July, but fundraising associated with that event isn't included in this round of campaign finance reports.

Both Sanders and Clinton are expected to return to Minnesota next month.