Transparency and Campaign Spending in Minnesota, Report 6: State spending in Minnesota

The “Transparency and Minnesota Public Affairs” project improves awareness of how the state’s democratic process works. This is a project of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. We are grateful for the contributions of Madeline Salucka and Matthew Motta. The authors are solely responsible for the content of this report. Other parties who use or draw conclusions from this research are solely responsible for their own views, which do not necessarily reflect those of the original authors. This research is supported by a grant from the McKnight Foundation.Minnesota’s elections for Governor, Attorney General, and the State House were hit by “Money Bombs” in the final days of the campaign. Overall spending surpassed $42 million – a 25% hike during the last two weeks of campaigning. This is on top of the huge spending on federal elections –$105 million. Overall spending to support DFL candidates for state government was greater than for GOP candidates – and grew in the closing days of the fall campaign. DFL candidates for Minnesota House of Representatives received more campaign support than GOP candidates. The DFL’s retaking of the majority was supported by a surge of spending in the campaign’s closing days that reversed an earlier GOP advantage. Independent expenditures from parties, groups, corporations, unions, and associations are flooding Minnesota. Big donors dominate the gubernatorial contest. The majority of money in both candidates’ campaign coffers comes from individual checks of over $500. By contrast, smaller donors account for the majority of the candidates’ funds in the Statehouse races.The McKnight Foundatio