Eighth District DFL congressional candidate Rick Nolan had a better fundraising quarter than his opponent, U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, but Cravaack has a huge cash-on-hand edge with less than four weeks to election day.
Nolan raised $484,663 between July and September, to Cravaack’s $471,183, according to the two campaigns. The DFL primary was on August 14, so the last six weeks of the quarter were the first in which there was only one candidate for Democratic donors to rally around.
Cravaack, however, has $1.1 million in the bank, as of Sept. 30, to Nolan’s $464,800.
A poll of 8th District voters this week showed a dead heat between the two, and a slew of outside groups have spent more than $4 million to advertise there, making the race not just the tightest and most expensive in Minnesota, but one of the hottest House races in the country.
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com
Worker bees for Rick Nolan
I first met Rick Nolan when he hosted 400 guests at the annual Crosslake Historical Center home tour. I was there to seek his assistance in organizing a similar charity home tour for the Lions Clubs in the Bay Lake and Crosby area. Thanks to his help, we were to able to duplicate their program to benefit Habitat for Humanity in the eastern part of Crow Wing County.
Later I got to know Rick, learning of his success as a job creating businessman and active supporter of civic programs like Head Start. I was not surprised when he was endorsed this year by the DFL endorsing convention. Those area conventions are sometimes depicted as gatherings of a few insiders selecting candidates in smoke filled rooms. Actually, they are gatherings of several hundred ‘worker bees’, party members who walk the streets placing signs, knocking on doors, and returning home to make the calls to voters. This is the field work that can offset the money advantage from better financed opponents.
I recommend that the 8th District join the worker bees and vote for Rick Nolan in the November election.