Cash streams into Minnesota races during final election push

Cash is pouring into Minnesota races for statewide office and critical legislative battlegrounds, as candidates enter the final days of an election season that will decide control of state government.

Minnesota candidates — and the outside groups that back or attack them — submitted their final pre-election campaign finance reports, offering a last look at the tens of millions of dollars flowing into races ahead of Election Day on Nov. 8.

Candidate fundraising reports showed Republican gubernatorial hopeful Scott Jensen netted slightly more cash than DFL Gov. Tim Walz over the past month, while Walz's overall fundraising and spending far outweighed other candidates in that race. So far this year, Walz reported spending $8.3 million while Jensen was at slightly more than half of that.

"As we begin the last week of the campaign, we are overwhelmed by the support of working-class Minnesota families that want to see a change in our state," Jensen said in a statement.

In an email announcing Walz's figures, the governor's campaign manager Nichole Johnson wrote that the Walz team and supporters aren't taking anything for granted. "Their backing will ensure that we can fund the robust get out the vote program that will re-elect Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Flanagan," she wrote.

In September, Walz and other DFL candidates for statewide office largely reported having far more cash stashed away for the final push than their GOP counterparts. The latest October reports, which track fundraising through Oct. 24, show Democrats are now putting that money to use.

But the campaigns' spending and fundraising tallies are only a small piece of a much bigger financial story in the state's heated races.

In the governor's race alone, outside groups spent a total of nearly $17 million through independent expenditures — which cannot be coordinated with campaigns — to influence the faceoff between Walz and Jensen, state Campaign Finance Board data shows.

The DFL-aligned Alliance for a Better Minnesota Action Fund's independent expenditures were dramatically higher than any other group, at $13.8 million. Most of that sum went to efforts to defeat Jensen.

The other biggest spenders were the DFL State Central Committee, the DFL House Caucus and a group associated with the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State called Safe Accessible Fair Elections Minnesota. Their independent expenditures totaled $6.2 million, $3.7 million and $3.2 million, respectively.

The top spender among GOP-aligned groups was Minnesota for Freedom, which devoted $2 million to the attorney general's race.

Here's a look at the dollars behind some of the state's biggest races.

Jensen's campaign outraised Walz over the past month by about $109,000. Meanwhile, the Walz-Flanagan campaign spent twice what Jensen has in that timeframe.

"Voters across the state will hear about their vision for fully funding education, building an economy that works for everyone, improving public safety, and protecting our rights," Johnson stated in her email.

Walz's overall fundraising this year and remaining cash was substantially more than Jensen's. The governor had more than $720,000 left in the bank and Jensen had less than $340,000 as of Oct. 24.

Jensen said in a statement that his campaign is "fueled by hardworking Minnesotans that are tired of Walz-Biden inflation, rising crime, and declining student achievement."

The GOP candidate received a $584,000 taxpayer subsidy after deciding to cap his spending, which Walz did not do.

Independence-Alliance candidate Hugh McTavish has devoted significant sums to his own campaign, which reported spending about $230,000 this year.

DFL Attorney General Keith Ellison has raised $1.5 million so far this year and GOP challenger Jim Schultz has secured more than $1.1 million. The two are in a tight race for Minnesota's top legal office, which Republicans see as one of their best chances to win a statewide post.

Ellison dramatically outspent Schultz in the latest fundraising period, between Sept. 20 and Oct. 24. The Democrat spent $1.2 million, compared with Schultz's $500,000.

Meanwhile, independent expenditures in the attorney general's race have mounted to nearly $6 million.

Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon spent nearly 10 times as much money as Republican Kim Crockett over the past month — roughly $780,000 to her $80,000. The two are competing to oversee Minnesota's elections.

Simon has raised nearly $1.2 million in 2022, about three times what Crockett has brought in this year.

Outside groups have gotten involved in secretary of state races across the nation. Independent expenditures on the Minnesota faceoff totaled around $5.4 million, according to Campaign Finance Board data.

GOP candidate Ryan Wilson has spent more than twice as much money as DFL State Auditor Julie Blaha over the most recent reporting period. The two are competing for the office that reviews local government spending.

Blaha has raised and spent more cash overall this year. Wilson, meanwhile, has leaned heavily on in-kind contributions and his own expenditures.

Legislative candidates, along with outside groups and the DFL and GOP caucuses of the state House and Senate, are spending large sums on battleground districts as they fight for control of the two chambers.

The Democratic House and Senate caucuses each reported raising around $6 million so far this year, while the two Republican caucuses each reported closer to $2 million. Senate Republicans have an independent expenditure group, Advance Minnesota, backing their candidates, which reported raising more than $1.2 million this year. And the House GOP-aligned Minnesota Jobs Coalition raised close to $1.9 million.

The Senate battle that has drawn the most spending from outside groups — $1.3 million — is the northeast metro contest between GOP Sen. Roger Chamberlain and high school history teacher Heather Gustafson, a Democrat.

In the House, outside groups have spent close to $800,000 on the fight between Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, and Republican small-business owner Aaron Henning.