BISMARCK – Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has almost $240,000 in campaign funds to support his run for governor, well ahead of his competitors in the three-way race for the Republican Party endorsement.
Candidates had until midnight Monday to file their year-end campaign disclosure statements for 2015, and Stenehjem’s showed he raised $244,163. He reported an ending balance of $239,413.
State Rep. Rick Becker of Bismarck, a plastic surgeon, reported an ending balance of $20,306 after raising $31,170 last year.
The other Republican hopeful, Fargo entrepreneur and former Microsoft executive Doug Burgum, didn’t form a committee to accept campaign contributions until Jan. 19, five days after announcing his run. No contributions were listed under Burgum’s name on the secretary of state’s website.
Democrat and former state agriculture commissioner Sarah Vogel, who had been fundraising but surprised party officials Thursday by announcing she will not run for governor, reported bringing in $57,445 in contributions. Vogel said last week that she would return any unspent money to contributors.
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Stenehjem’s largest contribution was $20,000 from the political action committee for Great River Energy.
