Fiegen and Krause Post Poor Numbers

Fiegen and Krause Post City Election Fundraising Numbers for Statewide Race

O. Kay Henderson has the numbers for the other two Democratic Senate candidates first: "Tom Fiegen raised $11,274 and Bob Krause raised $1,934 in the first quarter."

That makes my snark from last Thursday, when Roxanne Conlin reported $1 million cash on hand, relatively accurate: "The only real question is: did she out do them 100 to one or 1000 to one?"

Conlin raised $879,615 in the quarter ending March 31, more than even Chuck Grassley, even when you take away the quarter million she kicked in herself. That's 78 times what Fiegen raised and a whopping 455 times Krause's total.

Here's another way to look at it: Check these numbers from last year's Iowa City Council race. Fiegen raised less money than city council candidate Terry Dickens put together to crush two student candidates ($15,915 before the October primary). Krause, for his part, raised less than Coralville city candidate Bill Hoeft ($2,545).

Or: Krause raised less total money than the $2300 maximum individual donation, meaning Conlin raised more from one donor than Krause raised period.

Sure, money isn't the only thing to think about. And I do feel a bit sorry for Fiegen and Krause, who carried the ball against Grassley when no one else wanted to, then got stepped on.

But Fiegen, in particular, should have had access to the same sort of legal community fundraising base that Conlin did. And as Kathie Obradovich says today about the congressional primaries, "I’m much more likely to compare candidates based on their issue positions, leadership experience and goals for the office. But I may not spend a lot of time researching the ones who haven’t raised enough money to run a primary campaign. I’ll feel only a little guilty about that."