Gettemy tops fundraising in 2nd District; is his own biggest contributor

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS – The last candidate to enter the race for the 2

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District U.S. House Republican nomination appears to have jumped to the front of the line in fundraising – even if he was his own biggest contributor.

Rob Gettemy of Marion, who didn't get into race until late February, is reporting he's raised more than $128,000 and has about $120,000 cash on hand with eight weeks before the June 8 primary. The winner of the four-way race will face two-term Democrat Rep. Dave Loebsack.

However, Gettemy's total includes a $100,000 loan he made to his own campaign. Still, Gettemy said, the $28,824 he raised in one month is more than any of the other three candidates raised in a month.

“We got a late start to this process and my fellow candidates have all run before,” Gettemy said, “but in just a few short weeks, our support has been phenomenal.”

The fundraising mirrors the organizational strength his campaign showed last month when it filed nomination papers with more than twice the number of signatures required to get on the ballot, Gettemy said.

So far, only Gettemy and Steve Rathje of Cedar Rapids have reported their first quarter fundraising numbers. Rathje told TheIowaRepublican.com he raised $41,729 in the first three months of the year and has $55,585 cash on hand. Since beginning his campaign, he's raise $100,859.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa and Chris Reed of Marion have yet to release their first-quarter totals. In the final quarter of 2009, Miller-Meeks reported raising $20,663 with $24,052 cash on hand. Reed reported raising $8,984 with $2,128 cash on hand.

Loebsack reported in January he had raised $343,491 and had $336,311 on hand.