St. Paul mayor's coffers look strong as election looms

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman is heading into an election year with a healthy campaign war chest topping $100,000, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday.

Coleman, a DFLer who is expected to run for a third term this year, has raised nearly $86,000 since January 2012. His cash on hand, which includes the previous balance and expenses, was reported to be $104,450.

That's considerably more than the cash reported last week by Roger Meyer, Coleman's only declared opponent so far. Meyer, a consultant and community activist who launched his campaign for the Green Party endorsement last month, had a balance of nearly $7,100.

Coleman didn't have much more than that at this point in the 2005 race, when he first ran for mayor as a challenger to incumbent Randy Kelly.

While his first report showed little more than $9,000, he wound up raising and spending nearly $500,000 in that campaign -- enough to beat Kelly, who raised and spent nearly twice as much, by 38 percentage points.

Coleman spent far less in his 2009 reelection bid when he defeated Republican opponent Eva Ng by about the same landslide margin.

The mayor, who has not announced his candidacy, attended a fundraiser Monday held by St. Paul author and radio host Garrison Keillor. Coleman is in line to become president of the National League of Cities this year.

Kevin Duchschere • 651-925-5035