DFL groups poured money into 2020 legislative races. How’d that work out for them?

Three years ago, DFL-affiliated political groups were outspent by Republican-leaning groups in races for the Minnesota House yet came away with an election sweep that returned the chamber to their control.

In 2020, the DFL’s apparatus vastly outspent their GOP counterparts and saw their House majority shrink, though they managed to retain control, while a DFL-pledge to do whatever it took to recapture the Senate fell short. 

So is money in politics all that the people who raise and spend the money think it is — or are the fundamentals of each race what really matter? 

The 2020 reports released Tuesday by the state Campaign Finance Board don’t offer many clues. Looking at independent expenditures – money spent independent of the candidates’ campaigns that typically dwarfs candidate spending — groups seeking to help elect DFLers outspent their GOP rivals $18 million to $7.5 million. 

Yet in the House, the DFL went from a 75-59 majority to 70-64 majority. And in the Senate, the GOP majority of 35-32 shrank by just one vote, 34-33.

In Senate District 34 — one of the most-targeted state legislative seats in the country — Bonnie Westlin made her second challenge to GOP Sen. Warren Limmer. A total of $2.32 million was spent, almost $1.5 million of that on behalf of Westlin, yet Limmer retained his seat by 1.5 points.

The Limmer-Westlin race wasn’t an outlier. DFL groups spent more in all of the 10 most-expensive Minnesota Senate races, but won just three of those contests. 

The list of top-spending organizations include some familiar names. Topping the list is the Alliance for a Better Minnesota, which spent $5.82 million. Then there was the state DFL party, which spent roughly $4.1 million, and the House DFL caucus, which spent $2.74 million. 

The DFL not only has the biggest groups, it has more of them. After the top three, the biggest spenders include labor organizations, environmental groups, Planned Parenthood and Everytown for Gun Safety. 

GOP-aligned groups were not as flush, nor as numerous. Advance Minnesota, affiliated with the national Republican party, spent $1.74 million on legislative races. Also in the Top 10 were the campaign finance arms of the Senate and House GOP caucuses. Further down are two business organizations: the Coalition of Minnesota Businesses and the Pro Jobs Majority.

These reports mostly look back at the 2020 election. But this is also the first look at fundraising for incumbents who won’t be on the ballot until 2022. 

Gov. Tim Walz, whose campaign made a push among donors to donate as 2020 was ending, finished the year with $1.31 million cash on hand. Of that, $656,349 was from 2019 and $692,284 was raised last year. 

On Tuesday, the Walz campaign sent out a statement claiming a fundraising record for a Minnesota governor two years into his term. That may be true, even if political fundraising totals grow year over year and previous two-term Gov. Mark Dayton wasn’t someone who paid a lot of attention to fundraising.