North Dakota’s competitive U.S. office professional plus 2010 Office 2010 Pro House race

Running for office costly in 2010
During the 2009-10 campaign cycle, federal representatives and candidates for office in North Dakota accumulated enough political wealth to fund the Office 2007 operations of a small city.
The seven contenders Office Professional 2007 for federal office last year raised a combined total of $9.2 million, according to final campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission released this month.
That amount doesn’t include nearly $4.3 million raised by incumbent Sens. Kent Conrad Office 2010 and Byron Dorgan, who weren’t on the November ballot.
North Dakota’s competitive U.S. office professional plus 2010 Office 2010 Pro House race between Republican Rick Berg and Democrat Earl Pomeroy drew the most attention from political supporters, FEC records showed.
Pomeroy began the 2010 campaign with nearly $643,000 in the bank, an advantage from competing in past elections.
But during this campaign cycle alone, Windows 7 Pomeroy added more than $3 million to his war chest. Meanwhile, newcomer Berg amassed $2.1 million in his first bid for federal office.
However, the prosperity for both Berg and Pomeroy was short-lived due to the expensive campaigns the pair waged against each other.
Pomeroy, who lost the race, Windows 7 Home Premium reported $634 left in his campaign committee’s account and claimed no debt as of Dec. 31.
At the same time, Berg had nearly $26,100 remaining in his fund, but he also reported more than $154,000 in debt. About $100,000 of that is a personal loan Berg made to his campaign early in the race.
Meanwhile, FEC records for North Dakota’s U.S. Senate candidates revealed a financial showing as lopsided as the Election Day results.
Republican John Hoeven, who won the race, garnered more than $3.8 million in donations to boost his bid, amassing the most contributions of any one candidate, even above Conrad and Dorgan.
As of Dec. 31, Hoeven reported $892,300 in cash available and $100,000 in debt from a personal loan to his campaign.
By comparison, Hoeven’s opponent, Democrat Tracy Potter, raised the least amount of any candidate on the November ballot.
Potter collected more than $135,000 for his unsuccessful Senate bid, ending the year with $1,500 on hand after campaign expenses.
Republicans Paul Sorum, J.D. Donaghe and Kevin Cramer still had to report their financial activity to the FEC, even though they had unsuccessful bids for their party’s support in the Senate and House races.
The three candidates had raised about $128,000, as of May.
Dorgan, who retired last year rather than seeking re-election, had about $1.4 million remaining in his campaign war chest, as of Dec. 31.
During the campaign cycle, Dorgan whittled down some of his existing wealth and added donations by transferring money to political groups, such as the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party.
At the end of 2010, Conrad office 2010 reported $1.6 million in cash on hand, which he can distribute in similar fashion as Dorgan.
Conrad’s seat is on the 2012 ballot, but the veteran lawmaker said last month he wouldn’t seek another term. During the 2010 campaign, Conrad donated $175,000 from his war chest to the Dem-NPL.