Governor and mayors conduct pep talk about GOP convention
They say fundraising is a little slow so far, but predict that they will reach the goal
Message to CEOs and senior vice presidents of major Minnesota corporations:A prominent politician could be calling on you soon, asking for big bucks for next year’s Republican National Convention.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to showcase our state,” said Gov. Tim Pawlenty at a news conference Friday that was short on news.
He conceded that “there is a little bit of a slow start to cash in the door,” but he and others expressed confidence that the private money needed to cover costs of the convention, estimated at about $59 million, will be raised.
Pawlenty presided at Friday’s event, held in the governor’s reception room at the State Capitol in St. Paul.
Beside him were U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Bloomington Mayor Gene Winstead.
The media briefing followed a 90-minute closed-door meeting, where the officials discussed who could best make private fundraising pitches to corporate leaders.
The news conference, several said, was designed to let those leaders know they can expect to be approached.
Fundraising efforts are considered critical to the local host committee for the convention, to be held Sept. 1-4, 2008.
Pawlenty said that about half the $59 million will be raised nationally. The $59 million will cover such costs as temporary construction to reconfigure parts of the Xcel Energy Center for the convention — a job estimated to cost several million — and staff, housing, insurance, transportation and communications systems.
As a result of congressional action, contributions to the host committee can be listed as a charity donation.
Reports from Denver, where the Democratic National Convention will be held next year, are that its host committee fell $2 million short of meeting its initial goal two weeks ago of $7.5 million.
The Twin Cities host committee has declined to disclose how much it has raised, although Jeff Larson, a deputy chairman, acknowledged that contributions have “been a little slow.” He predicted that the committee will meet its first deadline of $3.9 million raised by July 15.
“We’re not going to get into a numbers game about exactly how much has been raised at this particular point,” said Larson. “We may at some point, but right now we are focused on how do we get the most amount of money from somebody.”
He said that some contributions are coming in the form of cash and that some are in-kind contributions.
“As we negotiate what the in-kind contributions are, some corporations and some entities and individuals may have a different value of what that is than we do. So we’re in negotiations with a lot of that right now,” he said.
Sen. Coleman said there will be “some key folks and key companies in the state who step up.”
He added, “I think it is in our interest to kind of present it as a package at the appropriate time, because that also sets a standard for some others … At an appropriate time I think it will make sense to say, here’s what we’ve got. And I also think that will then bring some others into the fold.”
About 15,000 media representatives are expected at the convention. Larson said fundraisers, in approaching executives, will emphasize that convention publicity will be very beneficial to the community and corporate donors.
St. Paul and Denver each are expected to receive $50 million from Congress to cover security costs.
Randy Furst • 612-673-7382 • rfurst@startribune.com
© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
