Duane Sand's campaign sent out a press release Wednesday touting the fact that he raised more than $350,000 for his campaign to unseat Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.

"Meeting this goal means that Duane Sand has now raised more than three times as much money as Rick Clayburgh did at this point in his 2002 challenge to Earl Pomeroy," Sand's campaign manager is quoted as saying.

It's not the first time the Sand campaign has boasted that he has raised more money than Clayburgh at certain points in his 2002 campaign against Pomeroy. Clayburgh passed on another run against Pomeroy to instead run for re-election as state tax commissioner.

Clayburgh said his fund-raising numbers can't really be compared to Sand's because he didn't announce his candidacy until early January and didn't begin hiring staffers and raising funds "in earnest" until after the April GOP convention. Sand began raising funds and exploring a race against Sen. Byron Dorgan in October, and made the switch to take on Pomeroy in late January.

Clayburgh sounded a bit offended by the Sand campaign's assertion that it's doing a better job of fund-raising, but said he understands that Sand is trying to generate excitement about his campaign to convince Republicans to invest in his campaign, "because it takes money to make money."

"It's a positive that he's raised the money, (but) he's gotta raise a lot more than that," Clayburgh said. "It's a good start."

Altogether, Clayburgh raised about $1.8 million, and lost a close race to Pomeroy.

Sand's press release went on to acknowledge that Pomeroy likely raised more money than Sand in the first quarter.

"Earl started raising money almost two years before I did," Sand is quoted as saying in the release. "I was in the Navy while he was raising money from lobbyists. And while I'm spending a lot of time raising money from individuals, Earl gets about 70 percent of his money from his friends in Washington."

However, according to an independent campaign finance Web site run by the research firm Public Disclosure, 75 percent of Sand's contributions through December were from out-of-state individuals, while 68 percent of Pomeroy's came from outside North Dakota. Sand raised $13,575 from North Dakotans and $39,825 from out-of-state donors, while Pomeroy raised $45,237 from North Dakotans and $97,428 from out of state, according to Public Disclosure.

Sand's campaign manager, Matt Lewis, is quoted in the March 30 edition of "The Hill" as saying that most of the $350,000 Sand has raised since entering the congressional race has come from "Naval Academy alumni" - generally not North Dakota natives. Sand is a retired naval officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

"We're both raising a lot of money from out of state," Lewis said Thursday. He said Sand has received donations from veterans and conservatives nationwide - his campaign records indicate plenty of out-of-staters who are listed as "retired." He said Sand's next campaign finance report will show that he has received contributions from a wide range of supporters.

Lewis said Sand also has received a lot of small donations from North Dakotans, but too small to require reporting on campaign finance disclosure reports.

The Pomeroy campaign had no comment.

The Republican and Democratic state conventions open today.

(Reach Deena Winter at 250-8251 or deena.winter@bismarcktribune.com.)