Parties, allies raise millions for legislative campaigns
Democrats and Republicans have stockpiled millions of dollars for this fall’s battle for control of the Minnesota Legislature.
Data released Tuesday shows the hundreds of registered candidates for the state House and Senate have around $7.2 million in the bank for advertising, staff, voter outreach and more.
Some of that will be spent in the weeks before the Aug. 11 primary election chooses party nominees. Around 75 candidates running in 40 different primary elections have more than $1 million in the bank, led by nearly $120,000 from Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka for his primary against Richard Dahl. Dahl’s campaign finance report was not available on the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board’s website Tuesday, one day after the deadline for candidates to file reports or face fines.
Overall, the incumbent majority parties in both the DFL-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate had more money in the bank than the minority party challengers. But House DFL candidates had nearly 50 percent more money on hand than the House Republican candidates, while Senate Republican candidates combined for just 9 percent more money than their DFL challengers.
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The state’s handful of third-party candidates have almost no money compared to people running under the DFL or GOP banners.
Much of the spending in Minnesota’s state elections comes from political parties and outside groups, who can raise millions of dollars and then focus the money at targeted raises. For example, the $2 million that Republican candidates for the Minnesota Senate have will be reinforced by the $2.3 million held by Senate GOP’s political committee — twice as much as their DFL counterparts.
Though the Senate GOP is the best-funded political committee in the state, Democrats have the overall money advantage from non-candidate spending, once you add in groups that predominantly back one party — such as Planned Parenthood for Democrats, or the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses for Republicans.
Among the 20 best-funded political committees in Minnesota, DFL-aligned groups have nearly $10 million in assets, versus $3.6 million for Republican-aligned committees. Political groups that give to both members of both parties have another $3.1 million.
Candidates, party committees and outside groups can continue to fundraise and spend as the Aug. 11 primary and Nov. 3 general election approach.
Full details on the fundraising and spending for Minnesota state campaigns is available on the website of the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.