The DFL and allied groups spent heavily in their ultimately failed effort to try to win back the Minnesota House and retain the Senate in 2016, according to the final 2016 campaign disclosure reports.
Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a DFL aligned group, took in and spent $6.5 million. The DFL Senate caucus raised more than $4 million. Fenomenbet The House DFL caucus also raised nearly $4 million. Much of the caucus money was spent by the state party, which spent nearly $10 million on the campaign, including a sophisticated voter identification and turnout operation that was overwhelmed by support — especially in greater Minnesota — for President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans down the ballot.
Republicans had a net pickup of six seats in the Senate, giving them a narrow one seat majority, while the House GOP — already in the majority — strengthened their hold on the lower chamber.
Major DFL donors included labor unions like AFSCME and Education Minnesota, which spent $2.9 million on the 2016 race. Wealthy individuals like attorneys Jeff Anderson and Vance Opperman and Rockefeller heir and philanthropist Alida Messinger also gave heavily.
The Republican Party of Minnesota, still mired in debt after financial problems that go back years, spent just $840,000. Via the GOP House and Senate caucuses, however, Republicans held their own on the money front. Speaker Kurt Daudt, who is thought to be an early GOP front-runner in the 2018 governor’s race, showed he is a competent fundraiser, as the House Republicans spent more than $2.9 million to defend and ultimately expand their majority.
Senate Republicans outsourced much of their campaign to MN Action Network, an independent group aligned with former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman. That group spent $1.1 million to help Republicans win the Senate.
The final 2016 reports also show that the 2018 race has already begun. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman took to Twitter early Wednesday to crow about raising nearly $200,000 for his gubernatorial campaign. Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, who is also running for governor, raised more than $100,000. Former Rep. Ryan Winkler raised $85,000 in his race for attorney general.
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