Iowa Democrat Roxanne Conlin raised more money than five-term incumbent Senator Chuck Grassley in the first quarter. She gave her U.S. Senate campaign $250,000 during the first three months of 2010 and raised nearly $630,000 from other donors. (She is not accepting any PAC contributions). Grassley raised $613,577 in the first quarter and has over $5 million cash on hand, compared to just $1 million for Conlin. Still, she has now raised "more than all of Grassley's past challengers combined," according to a campaign press release. More numbers from that release:

FACTS:

No PAC or Washington lobbyist funds.

81 percent of donors are Iowans.

78 percent of contributions are $100 or less.

Breakdown:

Campaign to date raised: $1,483,191

First Quarter 2010 raised: $629,615

Candidate contribution: $250,000

First Quarter PAC Money: $0

First Quarter Federal Lobbyist Money: $0

First Quarter 2010 total: $879,615

Cash on hand: $1,000,455

Those are impressive numbers for a challenger, especially since Grassley is not considered one of the most vulnerable Senate incumbents. Grassley's last Democratic opponent, Art Small, only raised about $136,000 during the whole 2004 campaign, and about $70,000 of that total came from the candidate himself.

I knew Conlin was holding a lot of fundraisers, but I am surprised that she was able to out-raise the incumbent for the quarter even if you don't count her own large contribution to the campaign. While she won't be able to match Grassley's spending, she will have the resources to run a statewide campaign, assuming she wins the June 8 Democratic primary. I haven't seen first-quarter numbers for the other Democratic candidates, Bob Krause and Tom Fiegen, but at year-end Fiegen had about $400 on hand, and Krause had about $3,500.

At Iowa Independent, Jason Hancock covered a recent dustup among the Democratic candidates over debates before the primary. I hope we will see some debates in addition to candidate forums, and I hope the final weeks of the primary campaign won't become too divisive. I plan to vote for Conlin, whose work I have long admired and who is best positioned to make the race competitive. Not only has she raised money, she will have a strong volunteer base. Just in my own precinct I know several Democrats who are not inclined to volunteer for Governor Chet Culver but will knock on doors or make phone calls for Conlin. By next Monday she will have held campaign events in all 99 Iowa counties.