Trail mix: Amy Klobuchar's big fundraising advantage
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Campaign finance reports for state and federal candidates dropped yesterday.
Why it matters: Fundraising helps signal which campaigns and races are actually competitive.
Three takeaways...
1. Amy Klobuchar raised more than the entire GOP gubernatorial field combined, and her $3.4 million total cash on hand is six times more than her closest rival.
- Just three Republicans ended March with six figures in the bank: Lisa Demuth ($543K) Kristin Robbins ($201K) and Kendall Qualls ($100K).
The intrigue: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell had the biggest quarterly haul of anyone in the GOP field: $496,000.
- Yes, but: He spent more than he took in on consultants, ads and Mar-a-Lago fundraisers, leaving just $41,000 in his account.
- He also spent another another $60,000 on copies of his own book.
2. Peggy Flanagan's fundraising in the heated DFL U.S. Senate primary picked up in the first quarter, though the $1.3 million she raised was about half as much as the $2.6 million DFL rival Angie Craig brought in.
- Craig ended the quarter with close to $5 million — four times Flanagan's cash on hand.
Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya led the GOP field in that race, raising $2 million and reporting $1.8 million cash on hand.
3. Walz hasn't tapped his war chest yet. The outgoing governor is sitting on $3 million that he can transfer to other state candidates and political committees.
- He spent over $800,000 on consultant bills, travel and refunds to donors, but hasn't report any significant contributions to other campaigns.