The three candidates are off to a quick fund-raising pace, especially for a non-election year. As of March 31, Klobuchar had raised $592,000, Kennedy $560,000 and Wetterling $330,000.

Kennedy, currently a U.S. House member, has already received the maximum allowable contribution from one political action committee and several individuals, with the election still 18 months away.

The Associated Builders and Contractors PAC maxed out with $10,000. Several other PACs are at least halfway there: The Northstar Leadership PAC, run by Sen. Norm Coleman, gave Kennedy $5,000, as did the National Auto Dealers Association's PAC. The PAC for Minnesota-based Target Corp. gave Kennedy $7,500.

Kennedy has benefited from generous support from another Minnesota company, Cargill. A half-dozen Cargill executives and managers combined to give Kennedy more than $13,000, an analysis by The Associated Press found...

Klobuchar, the Hennepin County attorney, was helped by lawyers of her former firm, Dorsey & Whitney. Nearly two-dozen lawyers combined to contribute about $17,000 to her campaign, the AP analysis found...

Among the notable contributors to Wetterling was Dinah Dale, a former fundraiser for Mark Dayton and for the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn. Wetterling, a children's advocate, also received contributions from more than a dozen health care providers.