Big Spenders: Herseth Sandlin 71% in SD, Noem 55% in Texas

Where candidates get their money is important. But this morning, let's look at where candidates spend their money.

Hit the Federal Election Commission website, and you can download loads of info on our Congressional candidates' campaign finances. Right now the data is current through Quarter 2 of this year. Let's compare where South Dakota's main Congressional candidates, incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Republican challenger State Representative Kristi Noem, have spent their campaign cash:

Herseth Sandlin				Noem
State	Total	%		State	Total	%
AZ	$376	0.1%		CO	$5,000	1.8%
CA	$2,400	0.4%		DC	$700	0.3%
DC	$114,167	20.5%		IA	$2,305	0.8%
GA	$2,329	0.4%		IN	$1,000	0.4%
IL	$19,199	3.4%		MN	$17,383	6.3%
MD	$5,176	0.9%		SD	$91,142	32.9%
MN	$6,708	1.2%		TX	$152,300	55.0%
NV	$1,342	0.2%		VA	$6,994	2.5%
NY	$1,746	0.3%		Grand Total	$276,824
OH	$254	0.0%
SD	$395,921	70.9%
TX	$4,755	0.9%
VA	$3,724	0.7%
Grand Total	$558,097

Funny: Noem's supporters like spinning the lie that Herseth Sandlin actually lives in her husband's home state of Texas, yet Noem is the one spending a majority of her money on Texas ad-makers (and getting lackluster ads from folks who I hear have trouble with deadlines). Meanwhile, Herseth Sandlin has spent almost 71% of her campaign dollars right here where she lives, in South Dakota.

Now Noem does get a larger proportion of her individual contributions from in-state than does Herseth Sandlin (86% versus 64%... and that doesn't include all the political committee contributions, where the bulk of Herseth Sandlin's money comes from, and which spigot Noem only just opened post-primary). But from a pure economic development perspective, Noem is exporting our cash, while Herseth Sandlin is bringing cash into South Dakota's economy. Way to go, Steph!

Stay tuned for the Q3 reports.