Southeast Missourian: Sowers shrinking fundraising gap with Emerson
April 18, 2010
In the first three months of the year, Democratic Congressional challenger Tommy Sowers continued to rely on donors across the nation to fund his campaign, taking 59 percent of his donations from outside Missouri.
But a look at the total amounts raised show that he beat incumbent U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, in one area her campaign uses to question whether he is connecting with voters -- money raised within Missouri.
Sowers was able to best Emerson in fundraising within the state in part because he raised more than twice as much as the Republican incumbent from individual donors. Except for $650, all of Sowers' donations came from individuals. He raised $294,562 during the first three months of the year.
He also increased the share of his contributions coming from within the state, from 34 percent of itemized individual donations in the report filed in January to 39 percent in the report filed last week. Including figures supplied by Sowers' campaign manager Jonathan Feifs on unitemized contributions, Sowers' share from within the state is 41 percent.
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Feifs, however, said voters care more about whether a candidate is raising money from individual donors or "special interest" political action committees.
Sowers is proud that he has been endorsed by groups like VoteVets and retired Gen. Wesley Clark's WesPAC, Feifs said. Both organizations urge their supporters to make individual contributions to selected candidates. Sowers is a former U.S. Army Major with special forces experience.
"I think people all around the country realize we need more people like Tommy in Congress," Feifs said.
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