Eight months after he dropped out of the presidential race, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has paid for his debt and formally closed his campaign committee.
Pawlenty was $450,000 in debt after he ended his presidential campaign in August. He paid off the final $24,300 of that during March, and closed his formally terminated his campaign with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.
Pawlenty was considered a top-tier candidate in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but he racked up loads of debt campaigning for a strong showing in the August Iowa straw poll. He finished third, and dropped out of the presidential race the next day.
In October, Pawlenty endorsed Mitt Romney for president. Romney and associates donated $66,000 to Pawlenty last fall.
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.