In Minnesota politics, state-level candidates and officeholders raised $26.6 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and July 18, 2022. More than $13.9 million, or 52 percent, of all donations reported by candidate committees were raised by the 10 individuals at the top of the list.
Top 10 Minnesota candidates (1/1/2021 – 7/18/2022)
Here are the 10 Minnesota candidates and officeholders who have raised the most money so far in the 2022 election cycle, according to campaign finance reports submitted to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board:
| Rank | Candidate/Officeholder Name | Total Donations |
| 1 | Tim Walz | $6,310,606 |
| 2 | Scott Jensen | $2,258,474 |
| 3 | Dennis J Smith | $1,021,833 |
| 4 | Keith Ellison | $935,587 |
| 5 | Steve Simon | $808,394 |
| 6 | Paul Gazelka | $693,381 |
| 7 | Kendall Qualls | $678,494 |
| 8 | Doug Wardlow | $463,366 |
| 9 | James Schultz | $409,263 |
| 10 | Michelle R Benson | $305,876 |
The list of Minnesota candidates and officeholders includes anyone with a candidate PAC that filed campaign finance reports during this time period, which may include former candidates or current officeholders who are not running in this cycle. PACs not associated with a candidate are not included in the values above.
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Minnesota PACs submitted to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Political expenditures that are not controlled by candidates or their campaigns, known as satellite spending, are not included in candidate totals. Federal PACs are not required to report to state agencies.
Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports. Data from additional reports due in between the deadlines below are published along with the reports listed here.
| Report Name | Report Due Date |
| 2022 Jan Annual | 1/31/2022 |
| 2022 Q1 | 4/14/2022 |
| 2022 Q2 | 6/14/2022 |
| 2022 Jul Semiannual | 7/25/2022 |
| 2022 Q3 | 9/27/2022 |
| 2022 Q4 | 10/31/2022 |
| 2022 Jan Annual | 1/31/2023 |
This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.
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