Show me the money: Local legislative candidates file last financial reports before Nov. 8 election

Minnesota candidates were required to file their final pre-election campaign finance reports last week.

This is the last look the public has at their fundraising and cash positions ahead of Election Day on Nov. 8

According to a Nov. 2 Star Tribune story, a review of these reports paints a picture of  “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.”

The required financial reporting for state candidates is detailed and extensive. It is available on the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board website.

Local candidates for the Minnesota Legislature

EPLN looked closely at the financial disclosures filed by the Minnesota District 49 Senate and House legislative candidates with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.

The candidates are Democratic incumbent District 49 state Sen. Steve Cwodzinski and his Republican challenger Marla Helseth; Democratic incumbent District 49A state Rep. Laurie Pryor and her Republican challenger Ryan Chase; and Democratic incumbent District 49B state Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn and her Republican challenger Thomas Knecht.

The reviewed reports cover funds raised and spent from Jan. 1, 2022, to Oct. 24, 2022. The reports also show the cash held by each campaign as of Oct. 24.

It is important to understand that this only covers the finances of the individual candidates and does not include the outside or “soft money” being spent to influence the elections.

In the Minnesota governor’s race alone, according to the Nov. 2 Star Tribune story, “outside groups spent a total of nearly $17 million through independent expenditures.”

The influence of this outside money should not be discounted, and this reporter believes it reaches down to all elections, and its effects should not be underestimated. But that is the subject for a different article.  

The fundraising and financial picture

In the amount of money raised this year, there is one very clear winner among the six local legislative candidates: Knecht, who raised $87,136.53.

The following table shows the amounts raised in 2022 among the six by amount:

However, these numbers need to be viewed in the proper context.

By just viewing the amounts raised, it would seem to give at least two of the three Republican challengers an advantage. However, the advantages an incumbent has should not be underestimated. The incumbents have the advantage of name recognition and the other political perks of being in office. Perhaps, most importantly, they can also carry over unspent amounts from previous elections.

If you look at the candidates’ finances from the perspective of who has the most available cash to spend going into the closings days of the campaign, it paints a somewhat different picture:

Here the advantage would seem to go to at least two of the three Democrat incumbents: Cwodzinski and Pryor. It is interesting to note that Cwodzinski is in the best available cash position even though he has given $22,000 of his available money to the MN Senate DFL Caucus.  

House District 49B

From a fundraising standpoint, House 49B is the most interesting of the local races. It is the only race where the Republican challenger has raised more money and has more available cash than the Democratic incumbent.     

The three tables below show the total 2022 contributions and breaks them down by individual and organizational contributions and available cash.  

About 52% of Kotyza-Witthuhn’s funds come from individual donors. The public knows where about 42% of those individual contributions come from because the candidates are only required to give details on donations over $200. Only three of those contributors are from outside Minnesota, and at least one is a relative. 

A total of $6,300 of her organizational contributions come from various lobbying and political action groups, about $1,500 from the DFL, and almost $5,200 from public financing.

A total of $76,000, or 87% of what Knecht has raised, comes from individual donors. About 82% of those donors are known (since those donations were over $200), and it is a long list. Nearly 20% of those known donors are from outside Minnesota, and many names are well-known.

Knecht has also raised about $5,000 in lobbyist and political action money, another $2,750 from Republican Party sources and $3,125 from public financing.     

Senate District 49 

	Individual Contributions	Lobbyist, Fund, Political Party  Contributions	Public Subsidy	Total Contributions 2022	Ending Cash Balance
Steve Cwodzinski (Democrat incumbent)	$30,856.76	$8,125.00	$10,897.03	$49,878.79	$25,088.68
Marla Helseth (Republican challenger)	$41,974.26	$8,925.00	$6,108.29	$57,007.55	$6,043.64

About 60% of Cwodzinski’s contributions this year have come from individual donors. Of those, only about $1,000 came from an out-of-state donor.

Of his organizational donations, about $4,500 comes from unions and organizations, including $750 from Education Minnesota. About $2,900 comes from DFL sources, and the rest from his public financing.

About 80% of Helseth’s contributions have come from individual donors, with about 65 percent of those contributors known because they gave more than $200. Only two of those contributors were from outside Minnesota.

A total of $2,400 of Helseth’s organizational contributions come from the MN Chamber, the Freedom Club and the Conservative American PAC, and $6,150 comes from Republican organizations and political candidates.

House District 49A

About two-thirds of Pryor’s contributions come from individual donations. About 62 percent of those who contributed to her are known (they gave over $200). None came from out-of-state donors.

A total of $3,450 of Pryor’s organizational contributions come from various political action groups, about $1,500 from the DFL, and almost $6,000 from public financing.

Chase is last among the six in terms of fundraising and spending. About one-half of his funds come from individual donors. Sixty percent of those donors are known (they gave over $200), and only one contributor is from outside Minnesota.

About $8,000 comes from the Republican Party and a little over $3,100 from public financing.

What it means

It is hard to say what all this means.

In at least two of the races, the prevailing financial winds seem to favor the incumbent. Will the financial advantage of the challenger in 49B, Thomas Knecht, be enough to help him unseat the three-term incumbent Kotyza-Witthuhn?

Is there too much outside money coming into local elections? Hopefully, the election on  Nov. 8 will provide some answers.  

Editor’s note: EPLN contributor Frank Farrell is a longtime Eden Prairie resident and an attorney with 43 years of experience. He was recently appointed to the EPLN board of directors.