DENVER—The group in charge of raising money to pay for the 2008 Democratic National Convention met its second fundraising deadline Friday, bringing in $15 million with about nine months to go before the event.
The announcement was a reassurance: The Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee had come up more than $1 million short of a June deadline to raise $7.5 million.
“We really have focused on working with our sponsors to make sure we would meet the deadline,” host committee president Elbra Wedgeworth said. “The previous deadline, we had the commitments. … We just had not gotten all the checks in.”
Wedgeworth credited the committee as well as Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Gov. Bill Ritter, Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. Diana DeGette with spearheading work to raise the money.
The total leaves Denver about $25 million short of its final goal of $40 million before Democrats nominate their presidential candidate at the end of August. Hickenlooper had pledged that no public money would be spent to put on the event.
Hickenlooper, who has raised funds in at least seven cities in recent weeks, said meeting the deadline gives Denver momentum going into 2008.
“The reason we have had the success is because corporations and wealthy individuals all over the country have recognized that it is important for America to be able to have our convention in smaller cities,” the mayor said. “It doesn’t have to just be the top five.”
Denver—like its Republican convention counterpart, Minneapolis-St. Paul—is expecting an additional $50 million from the federal government to pay for security. That money has been tied up in Washington as Congress and the president debate spending bills.
