Ewald at the Capitol/October 30

State Campaign Spending

The final Minnesota Campaign Finance Board reporting period prior to the election just ended, so we can now get a birds-eye view of state campaign spending for this election cycle. In total, $15.9 million was spent by outside groups on Minnesota Legislative races and $7.7 million was spent by candidate campaigns. Considering the two major parties only, two-thirds of total spending was conducted by DFL candidates and outside groups supporting DFL candidates, with the remaining one-third spent by GOP candidates and groups supporting them.

There was a large focus on spending on Senate races. The GOP-controlled Senate only has a three-seat lead over the DFL (35-32), meaning that a net flip of only two seats in the DFL’s favor could change party control for the upcoming biennium. There was a lesser emphasis on spending for MN House candidates, where the split is 75 seats DFL, 55 seats GOP and 4 seats New Republican.

October Budget Review

Minnesota Management and Budget recently released its quarterly revenue and economic update that covers the period of July-September 2020, which is the first quarter of fiscal year 2021. Revenues are up in the following amounts versus what was originally projected in the May Budget and Economic Forecast:

Net general fund receipts are up 12.7 percent
Sales tax revenue is up 26 percent
Net corporate tax receipts are up 31.9 percent
Individual income tax receipts are up 6 percent

The next full Budget and Economic Forecast will be conducted in November. Even with a more positive outlook in revenues than was originally projected in May, the state still faces a large budget shortfall.

Use of COVID-19 Relief Funds

Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) has released an expenditure report detailing the uses of the COVID-19 Minnesota fund. The fund was created in March to pay expenditures associated with the peacetime emergency. $200 million was appropriated to this fund.

Nearly $171 million of the fund was used for large purchases such as PPE, ventilators, testing and spaces for storage and isolation. Another large use of the fund was for animal carcass disposal when meat processing plants were shut down and thousands of livestock had to be slaughtered. The remainder of the fund was used for smaller expenses such as additional purchases of PPE and testing, hand sanitizer, software and emergency response staffing.

The MMB Commissioner had the authority to approve expenditures smaller than $1 million, but larger purchases had to be approved by The Legislative COVID-19 Response Commission. Commission members include the leaders of each major House and Senate caucus, as well as a few additional legislators.

Current and Recent Governors in PSA Campaign

Gov. Walz and former Governors Mark Dayton, Tim Pawlenty and Jesse Ventura joined to film a nonpartisan public service announcement to encourage Minnesotans to vote in the 2020 election.

In a tweet introducing the message, Gov. Walz says, “I asked some friends to help me explain why Election Day might be a little different this year. The four of us don’t agree on everything. But we do agree on this: the 2020 election is too important to sit out.”

View the PSA

Ewald Consulting 2020 Voter Guide

With only four days left until the 2020 general election, voting is already well underway. More than 1.1 million ballots have already been returned. Yesterday the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that absentee ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day will be segregated from the rest of the ballots, risking their validity. If you have not yet mailed in your ballot, you can ensure your vote is counted by hand-delivering it to your designated drop-off location or voting in person.

Ewald Consulting has compiled a 2020 Voter Guide with information you need to know about voting, as well as information on candidates for state races.