BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Former 7th District Republican Congressional candidate P. Kelly Hatfield said that State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington) understands that if he wants to beat Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), he can’t ignore Union County.

Stender, a microbiologist and former Summit Council president, said she’s seen Lance a lot in her home county, and that he’s studied how Stender managed to get so close to winning in her 2006 campaign.

“He has to win Union County. A lot of the Republican towns went for Linda Stender in 2006, and Leonard knows this. He knows he has to win Summit, Clark and Westfield,” she said.

Hatfield said that Lance’s lackluster fundraising numbers – with just shy of $100,000 on hand as of the last FEC report – were due to a fierce primary fight against her, Kate Whitman and several other candidates. She’s attended more than one of his fundraisers and thinks he’ll have enough money to compete with Stender’s message – even if he won’t have equal funds.

“I think his second purpose is to raise the funds that he’ll need. I’m confident he’ll do that, but I don’t have an inside track. I don’t know how much he’s raised this since then,” she said.

Hatfield came in third in the Republican primary, finishing behind Lance and Whitman, but ahead of four other candidates. She hasn’t given up on potential future runs for public office.

“The opportunity has to be there,” she said. “You just don’t go out and say you’re going to run for something.”