Republicans are falling behind their DFL counterparts in campaign cash in a big way according to newly released Campaign Finance Board Reports. The Republican Party of Minnesota raised $523k in 2019, while their counterparts, the MN DFL Central Committee, raised $3.6 Million for the year. However, both committees began the year with only $100k in cash.

How did the DFL burn through so much cash? They hired a lot of staff. In fact, the committee paid out a total of $66k in health insurance benefits alone. 

In the Minnesota House, the House Republican Campaign Committee run by Minority leader and lobbyist Kurt Daudt, hauled in $936k and has only $318k cash on hand. Meanwhile, the DFL House Caucus raised $1.6 Million and is sitting on cash of $1.2 Million going into election season. This 4 to 1 cash advantage will he an enormous factor in Daudt's ability to win back the Minnesota House which flipped in 2018 in a massive blue wave.

One saving grace for Team Red is that the Republican Senate Victory Fund raised the same amount, $1.3 Million, as their DFL counterparts in the Senate. But the DFL is beginning the election year with only $686k in cash, while the Republicans have a healthy bank account with $2.1 Million in cash. 

To add to the problems of the DFL Senate Minority, there's turmoil at the helm. Over the weekend, the caucus ousted Tom Back as leader and chose a suburban Senator from Woodbury: Sen Susan Kent.

Action 4 Liberty believes the fundraising disadvantages, which have been commonplace for several years, is due in part to Republican legislators not delivering on issues important to the Republican base. For instance, Democrats in the House passed gun control bills and drivers license for illegals. But when Republicans were in charge in 2017-18, pro-gun bills like Constitutional carry and Stand-Your-Ground got no traction. The Republican House instead grew government, took out more debt and bailed out health insurance companies with taxpayer money.

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