Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Franken raises another $1.9 million; Coleman, $1.7 million

WASHINGTON - DFL Senate candidate Al Franken continues to outpace U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman in fundraising, according to end-of-the-year totals released by both politicians' campaigns Monday.

Franken pulled in $1.9 million in the last three months of the year, bringing his 2007 fundraising totals to $7 million. Coleman, a Republican, was right behind him in the fourth quarter, raising $1.7 million to bring his total for the year to $6.6 million. Coleman's total fundraising for this election cycle equals $10 million, according to a campaign spokesman.

It represents another impressive fundraising performance for Franken, the comedian-turned-politician, outpacing Coleman for the third quarter in a row. But Franken's spending habits have kept up with his ability to earn. He ended the year with about $3.1 million in the bank. Coleman has $6 million in cash on hand.

One of Franken's fundraising strategies has been to elicit small donations from several people he can go back to multiple times to ask for additional money, said Franken spokesman Andy Barr. "We in no way are claiming that we're going to have more money than Norm Coleman," Barr said. "He'll have as much money as he wants to have. But we're going to have enough to mount a serious, statewide campaign."

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