From Rapid City Journal:

In a race defined early on by money raised, Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard heads a pack of five GOP candidates into the final nine days of a gubernatorial primary campaign he has led from the start.

Daugaard raised about $400,000 in 2007, before any of the other four candidates had even filed papers to officially begin their campaigns. He raised another $500,000 in 2008 and $750,000 in 2009.

That is a substantial take for a South Dakota governor’s race leading up to the election year. It more than doubled the $700,000 raised by the end of 2009 by state Sen. Dave Knudson, R-Sioux Falls, and is even farther ahead of the other three candidates — state Sen. Gordon Howie, R-Rapid City, rancher Ken Knuppe of Buffalo Gap and former Brookings Mayor Scott Munsterman.

Much of the lieutenant governor’s funding has come from prominent Republicans, including cabinet members, who had also donated to Gov. Mike Rounds. The governor added weight to the cash connection with his endorsement of his lieutenant governor, whom Rounds predicted as his successor in casual comments to a Rapid City Journal reporter three years ago.

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