Thune, With No Major Challenge, Raises $1 Million In 1st Q
Sen. John Thune (R) reports raising more than $1 million in the first three months of 2010, boosting his warchest to over $6.5 million as he runs for a second term in South Dakota.
Thune's fundraising takes on an added significance given that Democrats failed to field a single candidate for the office. There is a June 8 deadline for other independent candidates to file, and his campaign talks of the potential for a liberal netroots-fueled challenger. But realistically, Thune boasts an impressive warchest with little reason to spend much of it on his own race, which can only further fuel talk of a 2012 run.
Thune steadfastly refuses to talk about 2012, saying he's focused only on 2010. To that point, he was notably absent from last weekend's Southern Republican Leadership Conference, choosing instead to stay home for party-building activities like county GOP dinners. As chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, he's also beefing up his issue portfolio, with a particular focus on fiscal issues.
But his warchest gives him some options in setting the stage for a national campaign. Thune, who first took his Senate seat by knocking out the sitting Senate Minority Leader, will now be active in Republican efforts to retake a Senate majority. Indeed, an adviser says he plans to be active in the coming year supporting other Republican candidates across the country, specifically mentioning the campaign of John Hoeven in North Dakota.
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