Monday Funday! How much fun(ding) can one Senate candidate have?

Ah, the start of a new week, nothing feels better.  Like a fresh batch of cookies, each bite is sweeter than the last. In order to match this feeling, we here at MO Funds, MO Votes have decided to jump right into covering Democratic candidates.  To start our series is Senate candidate, Robin Carnahan. 

In this 2010 election, Ms. Carnahan is running against the established Republican candidate, Roy Blunt. Both sides have been given a lot of attention from the media, as it is a hotly-contested seat and can have a very significant outcome on the balance of power in Washington. This has been great for these Senate-hopefuls, as they have been able to get their name, image, and campaign issues out for all Missouri voters to hear.

Chart taken from opensecrets.org

When looking at the amount of funding Carnahan has gathered, we can see that a majority of her donors include law firms (Bryan Cave LLP, Thompson Coburn LLP,  Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP). These “Limited Liability Partnerships” have been crucial to her campaign as they have helped her stay alive in a campaign where her opponent has been garnering lots of money and supporters in a state that has leaned predominantly Republican for quite some time. Large scale donors such as these law firms have contributed 63% of her funds, while small donations of $200 or less make up 20% of her total funds. In comparison, opponent Roy Blunt has only received 5% of his funding from these small donations. For a more complete list of donors check out Opensecrets.org. 

In addition to this, we took a gander at the amount of support from within the state of Missouri versus those outside, and surprisingly enough the results were more significant than we had previously thought. Republican Candidate, Roy Blunt, has received 48% ($2,583, 895) of his total campaign; whereas, Robin Carnahan has received approximately 39% ($1,513,089) of her campaign (as of July 2010). Based off of these figures, you can really begin to see the importance of this state race, not only has it been given a substantial amount of attention, but it has also seen many other individuals getting involved in this race and pushing their candidate.

Chart taken from opensecrets.org

DID YOU KNOW?
Robin Carnahan and President Barack Obama share the exact same birthday!

Come back Wednesday for a look at two of Robin Carnahan’s major donors Act Blue, and EMILY’s list.