Polis leads the pack

Polis Raises $300K, Fitz-Gerald, $220K
by: Dan Whipple
Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 11:47:56 AM MDT

In the race for the Democratic nomination for the 2nd congressional district, the Jared Polis campaign says it has raised over $300,000 for the second quarter of 2007.
The Fitz-Gerald campaign, meanwhile, says that they have exceeded their fundraising goal for the quarter, with over $220,000.

Dan Whipple :: Polis Raises $300K, Fitz-Gerald, $220K 
Polis's campaign says the $300,000 has come from 400 contributions. And, as reported earlier, he raised $128,216 on Actblue.com, making him the largest recipient of funds nationwide on that network. Forty-three percent of the Polis contributors live with the congressional district and 65 percent in Colorado.
Polis also said in the release announcing the fundraising goal that he is matching "his online donations for this period dollar-for-dollar in acknowledgment of his early netroots supporters." According to campaign manager Wanda James, this will bring the total for the quarter to about $428,000, along with some not-yet-quantified in-kind contributions. James said Polis has been fundraising for only three weeks.

Joan Fitz-Gerald's campaign manager Mary Alice Mandarich said, "We've still got money coming in for us. We've met our goal for the second period. It will be over $220,000. Based on the fact that we only had six weeks to raise it, we're very pleased with the amount of money we've been able to raise, and the broad support it shows."

Because the official reports are still being compiled, Mandarich couldn't say how many individuals have given to Fitz-Gerald's effort.

Will Shafroth's campaign couldn't be reached for comment, but Shafroth said earlier that he doesn't plan to release any funding totals until his official reports have been finally compiled.

_____________________________________________________

For Further Information Contact:
Wanda James

Jared Polis for Congress

(720) 987-5160

Wanda@polisforcongress.com

F O R  I M M E D I A T E  R E L E A S E

CD2 CANDIDATE JARED POLIS RAISES OVER $300,000 IN INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS

Swing State Project and Act Blue Names Polis as Top Democratic Fundraiser in the country

Boulder, CO - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - In a show of openness, the Jared Polis campaign is releasing their preliminary numbers now, nearly two weeks before other campaigns are expected to announce their fundraising results.

The Polis campaign is reporting that it has raised just over $300,000 in individual donations and has over 400 contributors. In addition, according
to the Swing State Project http://www.swingstat...
and ActBlue.com http://www.actblue.c.... , he is the number one netroots fundraiser in the country for a Democratic U.S.
House of Representative's seat, having raised $128, 216 online.

"We are grateful for the exceptional online netroots and broad based support for our clear progressive message and we wanted share the preliminary numbers with the public for our first reporting period, as soon as they were
available," stated Polis.  "The contributions to our campaign from the online community clearly indicate the enthusiasm for our forward-thinking
message of innovation, hope, and opportunity."

The support throughout the second Congressional district has been impressive.  43% of Polis' donors have come from within the district and 65%
have come from the state. Polis will match his online donations for this period dollar-for-dollar in acknowledgement of his early netroots
supporters.

"We expect the other candidates to do well. However, the true test will be if they can keep up the pace after they have exhausted their special interest supporters," stated Wanda James, Polis' campaign manager. "Jared
raised all of his money from individuals and our campaign will not accept money from special interest Political Action Committees (PACs); Jared is demonstrating his courage to take on the big corporate interests. "

The second quarter deadline for fundraising was Saturday, June 30, 2007 with the filing deadline coming this July 15, 2007.  Polis announced his
candidacy on May 21, 2007.  His fundraising totals were achieved in less
than half of the reporting period.

About Jared Polis

In 2000, Jared Polis won statewide office to the Colorado State Board of Education and served as the youngest Chair in the history of the Board.
During his six-year tenure, he was a strong advocate for school reform and enhancing educational opportunities. He played an instrumental role in the passage of Amendment 23 to improve state funding for public schools.

The Jared Polis Foundation was founded in 2000 to improve and expand access to education through computer recycling, teacher appreciation, and by serving at-risk youth by creating two innovative charter schools that
continue to meet the needs of underserved students: the New America School, aimed at extending the benefits of English literacy and a high school liberal arts education to all students; and the Academy of Urban Learning,
founded to serve teens who struggle with homelessness or unstable living
conditions.

Having co-founded his first company, American Information Systems, while still in college, Polis has launched several successful business ventures since, including bluemountain.com, Proflowers.com and other onlinestart-ups. He has been named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and one of the top ten young entrepreneurs by Success Magazine.

Jared is a native of Boulder and received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Princeton University.

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by: TheDeminator @ Tue Jul 03, 2007 at 20:31:51 PM UTC

I agree with Jonathan Singer

About John Warner. He certainly sounds like someone who doesn't plan to run for re-election or he could just be very arrogant. Perahps he doesn't believe that the Dems will put up anyone of value if he runs and so he can hold off on doing all the little campaign things as long as he can.

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by: safi @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 00:00:59 AM UTC

No way

Warner is not that arogant. He's shown signs of life on Iraq (as in saying he'll consider changing his policy in September as opposed to the surge is working).

He's a smart guy, he's definately heading down towards many years of fly fishing and policy consulting and whatever else senators do after retirement.

SO let's say Mark Warner goes in for John's open seat. He cake walks to a victory. Then what? We need 3 persons to run statewinde in 2009. I've heard rumors of a former Lt. Gov. from the mid 90s interested in taking on gov race (apparently he was invovled with Dean's campaign (yay!) as well as Harris Miller's (aww . .  .)). Also, can Tim Kaine run for Lt. Gov. again?

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26

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by: trowaman @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 05:28:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

The Dems

Didn't put up an opponent in 02 and he knows that its porbably unlikely that Mark Warner will run against him.

All I'm saying is doesn't start his retirement party yet, Warner is a smart guy but he is a traditionalist. I don't think he likes fundraising and pandering and all of the things necessary for a successful campaign and if he has to do those things he can attempt to delay it as long as possible.

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by: safi @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 06:26:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah

If Warner goes for the open seat then Don Beyer should run for governor. If not he should run for Senate. And he said he might. He was Lt. Governor from 1990-1998 and lost to Jim Gilmore in the 1997 governors race. He was Dean's National Treasurer, did something with Harris Miller (icky!) and is currently part of the Obama campaign in Virgina. Before backing Obama he served as a top fundraising official for Mark Warner's Political Action Committee, Forward Together.

I think Kaine would be part of a Democratic White House then run for Lt. Governor again.

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by: Populista @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 19:32:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

A better scenario in VA is

Let Kaine run for the open US Senate seat in 2008. Kaine is term limited. he can leave the governorship early allow a Republican- Bolling to take the Governorship for one year 2009-2010.

Mark Warner runs for Governor in 2009. Warner has an excellent chance of defeating Bolling and McDonnell.

Don Beyer runs for Lt Governor in 2009.

Creigh Deeds runs for Attorney General in 2009.

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by: nkpolitics @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 21:28:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I had suggested this

I think it's a sure fire win way, so long as the general populace does not see it as overly political.

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26

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by: trowaman @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 22:05:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

But

Why would we ever want to let a Republican try to ruin VA again? And besides Beyer isn't going to run for Lt. Governor again. He already was Lt Governor for 8 years. Deeds could jump to Lt or go for AG again. And I'm sure we can find someone to run for Lt or AG. After all how many people thought James Webb would be the new US Senator this time last cycle?

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by: Populista @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 23:12:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Brian Moran

Here is another guy who could be good for AG. He was going to go for it in 2005 but let his friend Deeds go for it. He is the chairman of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. Got into politics because Mark Warner told him too. So he'd be connected and could run a good campaign.

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by: Populista @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 23:19:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

do we have anyone else?

just in case warner doesn't run.  either because (Sen) Warner doesn't retire, or (Mark) Warner tries to play the veepstakes.  a congressman who might have a good chance?  state senator?  webbesque guy out of nowhere?  just want to know just in case (trying not to jinx it).

Top ten signs you're an SSPer #1: your favorite song is "Panic At Tedisco" and no one understands what you mean.

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by: doug_tuttle @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 19:59:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yep.

Don Beyer. See above.

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by: Populista @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 23:13:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

LA-Sen: Landrieu Brings in the Bucks

Reports the Times-Picayune (emphasis added by me):

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., raised more than $1.2 million in the second quarter, her campaign said Tuesday, doubling her fund-raising pace from six years ago as she attempts to fatten her war chest and scare off potential opponents for her 2008 re-election bid.

Receipts over the past three months leave her with about $2.7 million in her account, the campaign said, in what both major parties predict will be a race costing between $10 million and $15 million.

"We're well on our way to building a strong, well-financed 2008 campaign," Ron Faucheux, Landrieu's campaign chairman, said. "We will continue to accelerate the pace as the election draws near."

Check out the Guru's blog at http://www.senateguru.com

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by: senate2008guru @ Wed Jul 04, 2007 at 19:40:24 PM UTC

wow...

That is good news. The more money she has, the better.

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by: Venslor @ Thu Jul 05, 2007 at 04:55:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

David Nacht (D) in MI-07

It was briefly mentioned in a diary before, but local media has confirmed that lawyer David Nacht raised over $160,000 for the second quarter in MI-07. (Here for more.)

This is more than every Democratic candidate from 2002, 2004, and 2006 combined were able to raise.

Exciting stuff!

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by: Fitzy @ Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 19:41:11 PM UTC