WurfWhile

[Update the Daily Herald has more - I will too, but not until I get some sleep!]

Bill Foster’s Campaign for the 14th Congressional District set a high bar for fellow Democrats John Laesch, the Democratic nominee in 2006, and first-in-the-race Jotham Stein, by raising a record amount this quarter. While contributor numbers and other details will be out soon, the campaign ended with over 200 donors contributing in the last six days of the quarter. The Foster campaign reports raising a total of at least $409,000 in the third quarter, a Democratic record in the 14th District, where Democrat John Laesch raised a total of $310,114 in the whole of the 2006 race.

In the second (last) quarter Jotham Stein, the only candidate running a campaign the whole quarter, raised $43,000 (and had raised $73,000 overall). John Laesch, who entered the race late in the second quarter raised $12,000. Bill Foster largely self-funded $131,000 in the quarter.

Money isn’t, and shouldn’t be, the only measure of political viability. However, the 14th Congressional District is a (physically) big district where to reach voters with your message you’re likely going to have to ante-up significant money for media, not to mention gas/E-85. There’s no doubt that John Laesch and Jotham Stein bring volunteers and energy into the campaign - but they’re going to need money. Bill Foster entered, effectively, a bit later than his opponents, but he too is campaigning hard. If Foster campaign staff work as hard as one would expect to mobilize a volunteer base, Bill’s going to be extremely hard to beat if he’s also winning the money race.

The quarterly reports from the Jotham Stein and John Laesch campaigns will tell us a lot about how competitive a race the Democrats will have in their 14th Congressional primary.