Jensen's fundraising jumps, but Walz still has far more cash in Minnesota governor's race

Republican candidate for governor Scott Jensen's fundraising surged in the past couple months, but he continues to trail DFL Gov. Tim Walz's overall cash haul, new campaign finance reports show.

With about six weeks until Election Day, the latest reports show most Democrats for statewide office have far more resources stockpiled for the final push than their GOP counterparts.

DFL incumbents Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon had substantially more cash. However, Ryan Wilson, the Republican challenging DFL State Auditor Julie Blaha, had more cash left as he has been largely self-financing his bid through in-kind donations.

Republican Scott Jensen outraised DFL Gov. Tim Walz over the past two months by about $254,000. Meanwhile, Walz spent more than twice what Jensen has doled out in the past couple months and the Democrat's overall fundraising this year and remaining cash is still substantially more than his opponent's. Independent Hugh McTavish had not submitted a September finance report yet.

Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison has saved nearly three times as much as GOP challenger Jim Schultz. The two are in a tight race for the state's top legal office. Schultz has outspent Ellison so far this year, devoting about twice as much to his campaign effort.

DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon has nearly $1 million left in the bank, more than eight times as much as Republican Kim Crockett. The two are competing to oversee how elections are run in Minnesota.

DFL State Auditor Julie Blaha has outraised GOP hopeful Ryan Wilson by roughly $32,000 this year, but Wilson has more money saved. However, the overwhelming bulk of Wilson's funding and expenditures have been in-kind contributions from himself. The two are locked in a fight for the office that reviews local government spending.

Source: Minnesota Campaign Finance Board

Note: All figures are based on filings from Jan. 1 through Sept. 20, but some candidates' cash-on-hand totals include fundraising from prior years. Candidates who raised less than $10,000 since Jan. 1, or have not filed reports, are not listed. The numbers do not include in-kind figures or non-campaign expenditures.