An interesting press release from the Sand campaign:

BISMARCK – Duane Sand, Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, has raised more money than his opponent, Earl Pomeroy, for the second consecutive reporting period. This information comes from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

According to the FEC, Sand raised roughly $138,000 in the so-called “pre-general” period, to Pomeroy’s roughly $42,000. The pre-general period lasts from October 1 to October 15.

In the third quarter (July 1-September30), Sand raised roughly $595,000 to Pomeroy’s $361,000. Exact figures follow.

At first blush the idea of out-raising Earl Pomeroy, who typically enjoys a sizable campaign funds advantage over his challengers, is a surprising one.  But thinking about this for a moment, it’s probably not at all surprising given the nature of Pomeroy’s funding.

Earl - who typically gets 75% or more of his funding from big-money, out-of-state contributors - gets his cash flow in lumps.  His rich liberal benefactors send him some massive checks at the beginning of his campaign and then that’s it.  For the rest of the election cycle his fund raising mostly consists of the trickle of cash that flows in from his supporters that are actually North Dakotans.

Meaning that Sand, who is much more dependent on money from average North Dakota citizens, would obviously enjoy steady (if less in terms of dollar amounts) contributions throughout the election cycle.

Update: The campaign sends along this correction to their earlier press release:

CORRECTION: According to the Federal Election Commission, Duane Sand has raised more money than Earl Pomeroy in every single reporting period this cycle.

SAND VS. POMEROY

2007 Year-End: $250k vs. $148k

2008 April: $334k vs. $237k

Pre-Primary: $131k vs. $80k

July: $177k vs. $161k

October: $595k vs. $361k

Pre-General: $138k vs. $42k

Wow.