Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Surprising Fundraising Results From Montagano

Michael Montagano, a third District Democratic congressional candidate, surprises political observers by reporting his campaign took in $112,000 just weeks after he made public his intention to seek the office currently held by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder (R). Souder raised $130,000 during the same period but he has less cash on hand than Montagano, $91,000 compared to Montagano's $106,000.

U.S. Rep. Julia Carson (D) raised the least of any current member of Indiana's congressional district. She only raised $8,600 during the period, leaving her with $141,000 in cash on hand. U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D) raised over $564,000 during the same period, while U.S. Rep. Baron Hill (D) raised more than $697,000. U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) raised $706,000, but that was still short of the $736,000 raised by Rep. Pete Visclosky (D), the largest amount raised by any member of Indiana's congressional delegation. Rep. Mike Pence (R) raised $378,000 compared to the $92,000 U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer (R) raised.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That Pete raises this amount of cash, in a district where he'll get nominal opposition, is criminal.

Our federal campaign finance laws need to be changed. Now.

What would be wrong, for instance, with capping the amount of money you can raise at, say, $2 per voter? That'd be enough to do several mass mailings and a few commercials. Or, for federal offices, making the USPS send a number of mailings free.

The bulk of this money is spent on TV. And by the middle of October, you can't hear the real campaign message amidst all the shouting.

Pete, like most senior incumbents, will use the bulk of his cash to buy favor with potential chairmen, etc.

Sickening.

Anonymous said...

Great post! Souder raised approx. 90k this quarter (March 1-June 30). He raised approx. 40k in the prior quarter (Jan. 1-Apr. 30). So in addition to having more cash on hand, Montagano outraised Souder this quarter.

Anonymous said...

I think this Montagano guy is one to watch. I just read that he is also 1 of 12 challengers in the country to outraise an incumbant candidate.

I saw him speak a while back, he is a great looking candidate and well spoken. People were really clapping for him.

I shook his hand after the event and he seems like a really nice guy who seems passionate about listening to the people of the district.

Anonymous said...

Montagano walked in the Elkhart County Parade today. I do not think anyone should be suprised about his fundraising results. The people of the 3rd district really loved this guy. He was on the ground for five hours shaking hands. I think we are going alot more out of Montagano

Anonymous said...

Montagano is a sincere young man and if he sticks to his idea of being an independent thinker if and after he's elected will make a good congressman for Indiana. We have too many "career" politicans that only tow the party line. That's not what we need in this country. Montagano seems to have a lot of character and I believe he will stand up for the citizens in a non partisan way.