The last non-self-funded gubernatorial candidate has released campaign finance numbers, and they pale in comparison to his opponents. MPR reports that Independence Party candidate Tom Horner raised $190,000 since the beginning of 2010, leaving him with only $27,500 left in the bank.
Those numbers are dwarfed by Horner’s Republican and DFL opponents. While it is not surprising that Horner would trail in funding while running as a third-party candidate, the gap is intimidatingly large. Republican Tom Emmer reported holding over 10 times as much cash on hand, while DFLer Margaret Anderson Kelliher had 14 times as much money remaining in her campaign coffers.
These figures will only further the idea that the Independence Party candidate will be a spoiler in the general election campaign. Since Jesse Ventura won the governorship in 1998 (back when the organization was still known as the Reform Party), IP candidates have drawn consistently less and less support in elections. Polls have shown Horner drawing anywhere from 10 to 18 percent, but he has never finished higher than third in any of the surveys.
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