Curd outraises Nelson in fourth quarter [Corrected]

By David Montgomery
Published/Last Modified on Monday, Jan 25, 2010 - 03:06:46 pm CST

Congressional candidate and state Rep. Blake Curd raised $125,000 more than primary rival and Secretary of State Chris Nelson in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Curd, according to a campaign statement, raised $181,381 in the fourth quarter. He spent around $18,000 for $163,000 cash on hand.

Nelson's mandatory filing with the Federal Election Commission is online. It shows Nelson raising $56,239 — all from individual donors and himself — in the fourth quarter and spending $18,172. That leaves him with $38,066 on hand.

(Note: That's a year-end filing for Nelson, not a third-quarter report. Skimming through his donations, though, there's nothing before September of last year, so I think it's a fair comparison with Curd.)

The two Republicans' Democratic opponent, incumbent Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, doesn't have fourth quarter documents up yet. I'm told we can expect that within a week.

~~In her third quarter~~ ~~filing~~ from last year (and please keep in mind comparing different quarters isn't apples-to-apples), Herseth Sandlin raised $293,889 total, including $116,190 from individuals and $176,519 from political committees.

Alright, I misread the FEC's report. Those were Herseth Sandlin's year-to-date fundraising through the third quarter of last year. This is her third-quarter report.

In the third quarter of 2009 she raised $127,197 and spent $58,698.16 for total cash-on-hand of $226,582.01.

Keep in mind that comparing two different quarters' fundraising isn't apples-to-apples. The fact that Curd raised more in the fourth quarter than Herseth Sandlin did in the third (or that Herseth in the third quarter beat Nelson in the fourth) doesn't mean that much. The real comparison is between candidates in the same quarter; we should have that within a week.

That included $67,597 in individual donations and $59,600 from committees.

If I remember what I learned in political science classes correctly, it's very common for incumbent representatives to raise more money from political committees compared to challengers, who are more dependent on individual donations.

More on this coming shortly.

Print this story Post A Comment

WARNING:

• Comments are not verified for accuracy nor have we verified the identity of any person’s name accompanying a comment, so please consider this as you weigh any statements made or opinions offered.

NOTE:

• Comments will not be posted if submitted in all caps, or all lower case, or do not show a reasonable attempt to follow basic rules of grammar and punctuation, nor will text-message like abbreviations be accepted, like ur for your.
• Postings must stay on the issues related to the thread and not veer off into personal comments about others. The tone of the post must be civil. For example, you can say someone’s ideas are stupid but you cannot say another poster is stupid.
• Postings must deal with matters of public concern.

Comments

No comments posted.

WRITE A COMMENT

Use the form below to post a brief comment to this story, or respond to other readers. Please use the word count tool to assist you in keeping your remarks to 100 words or fewer.

Comments must be approved by an editor before appearing on the Web site. Editors review submitted comments periodically during the day for offensive or off-topic content before posting. Your thoughtful contribution to the online discussion is appreciated.