Slow cash flow for 14th Congressional Dems

The money involved in the 14th Congressional District Democratic primary resembles more of a local contest than that of a federal office. That means either Democrat who wins faces a potential major disparity in his ability to get his message out compared to Republican incumbent Randy Hultgren.

With only a few days left in the campaign, only one of the two Democrats has even accumulated enough campaign donations to require formal reporting to the Federal Election Commission.

John Hosta reported no donations or loans in the most recent filing period. He has no record at all of any funds raised.

His opponent, Dennis Anderson is not much better off. Records show Anderson accumulated less than $21,000 in contributions in the most recent cycle. Almost all of that money comes from two people - Donald and Susan Metiver. Donald Metiver is the chairman and founder of Spring Grove-based Sportdecals. Records show Metiver has also been a financial supporter of President Barack Obama.

Anderson has also given himself a $250 loan. That's far less than the nearly $60,000 he loaned his campaign for his first run against Hultgren two years ago. Anderson's campaign reported nearly $60,000 in debt as a result. Anderson now has $13,575 of cash on hand.

Hultgren has more than 10 times that amount with about $150,000 cash on hand. He raked in $631,000 in total contributions in the pre-primary cycle. More than half of that came from various political action committees.

In the most recent House elections, the Center for Responsive Politics compiled numbers showing the average cost of winning a House seat was $1.5 million in 2012. That was an increase of about $100,000 from the 2010 elections.

The primary election is Tuesday.