New to House Race, Krebs Raises More Money Per Day Than Johnson

Last updated on 2018-06-11

Dakota War College reads FEC reports and gives favorable coverage to Dusty Johnson, who buys ads on DWC, and critical coverage to Shantel Krebs, who has not bought ads on DWC and who ousted DWC’s bumbling patron Jason Gant from the Secretary of State’s office. Let’s look at Johnson’s 2016 Q4 and 2017 Q1 reports and Krebs’s 2017 Q1 report and try for some objective comparisons:

1. Since November 14, Dusty Johnson has raised $232,364. Since March 13, Shantel Krebs has raised $140,047. Over 137 days, Johnson raised $1,696 per day. Over 19 days, Krebs raised $7,371 per day.
2. To compare apples to apples, in the first 24 days of his official campaign (let’s spot Dusty five days to make up for the difficulty and uncouthness of fundraising during the Thanksgiving holiday), Johnson raised $46,250 from his itemized donors (FEC requires names of donors giving more than $200). Divide that sum by 19 effective fundraising days, and Johnson’s launching rate was $2,430, just one-third of Krebs’s out-of-the-gate daily haul.
3. Johnson received $207,497 from 271 itemized donors. Krebs received $129,350 from 148 itemized donors (including three from South Dakota legislators via their campaign committees). Johnson averaged $766 per big donor; Krebs, $874 per big donor.
4. Johnson has drawn $24,151 in smaller, unitemized contributions. Krebs has drawn $10,697 in small checks. Johnson’s small-change jar rang up $176 per day. Krebs’s jar jingled faster, $563 per day.

If Krebs has sustained her superior daily take since the last reporting day of March 31 and if Johnson hasn’t picked up the pace, Krebs could overtake Johnson in total fundraising today.

We can also find some names of interest and donors of split minds:

1. Johnson’s first contributor was DWC blogger Pat Powers, who chipped in $300 on November 14. Krebs’s Day-One donors included banker Dana Dykhouse for $500,
   conservative District 27 Representative Elizabeth May for $500, Sioux Falls retiree Steven Perkins for $1,000, Sioux Falls retiree Mary Van Loh for $500, and (uh oh!) Rapid City right-wing radical Ed Randazzo for $500.
2. Dana Dykhouse has given each candidate $500. So have former Governor Frank Farrar and Jamie Huizenga. Tom Dempster and Eldon Jensen have given each candidate $250. Tim Dougherty has given each $1,000. Dan Kirby has given each $2,000.
3. John Calvin of Watertown give the cycle-maximum $2,700 to Johnson on December 28. He’s eligible to give Dusty another $2,700 before the election, but March 16, he gave Krebs $1,000. Calvin’s neighbor Virgil Borns is similarly torn, giving $1,500 to Johnson and $750 to Krebs.
4. Al Kurtenbach of Brookings has given Johnson $1,500 and Krebs $1,000.
5. Primrose James Thares of Aberdeen gave Johnson $2,000 on February 28 and Krebs $1,000 on March 27.
6. Wall Drug owner Theodore Hustead gave Johnson $1,000 on March 12. Wall Drug chairman Rick Hustead gave Krebs $2,000 on March 16.
7. On March 21, Marnie Herrmann of Rapid City gave Krebs $500. On March 30, Douglass Herrmann of Rapid City (I think that’s Marnie’s husband) gave Johnson $500.
8. On March 27, David Knudson of Sioux Falls gave Krebs $250. On March 30, Deanna Knudson of Sioux Falls gave Johnson $250.
9. On March 28, Greg Carmon and his wife Sheri of Brandon both maxed out with $2,700 contributions to Krebs. On March 30, Greg kicked another $300 Johnson’s way.
10. On my old Madison beat, Johnson got $500 from Thune advisor Jon Lauck, while Krebs has $1,000 from car man Pat Prostrollo, another $1,000 from Regent Randy Schaefer, and a third thou from Dairy Queen king DeLon Mork.
11. Lobbyist Justin Smith, who served on Secretary Krebs’s campaign finance reform panel last year, gave Krebs $250.
12. Steve Kolbeck, who served on the Public Utilities Commission with Johnson, gave Johnson $250.
13. Disgraced former legislator Mathew Wollmann has given his Teenage Republican Camp pal Dusty Johnson $300.

Johnson and Krebs have both roused the interest of GOP donors (as well as some Democrats—Jim Abbott! $1,000 for Dusty?! What are you thinking?). Keep an eye out for for donors to choose their bandwagon… and for anyone to jump on Democrat Chris Martian’s bandwagon in Quarter 2!