There is vastly more money on the Left than the Right. You can see this across the country, but Minnesota provides a useful case study. It was the topic of Episode 2 of the American Experiment podcast.
In the 2022 election cycle, if you add up all of the various sources of money as best public records allow, the Democrats and their supporters spent two to three times as much money as the Republicans. Altogether, the Democrats spent something like $97 million–a lot of money in some contexts, but a modest price at which to buy a state.
The 2022 election here was very close. When the dust settled, there was zero net change in the House of Representatives, and the Democrats gained one seat in the Senate–enough to give them control–and that seat by only 321 votes. That skinniest of margins was enough to allow the Democrats to increase the state’s spending by one-third, and move policy in a crazily leftward direction. If the Republicans had anywhere near the financial resources of the Democrats, they would have held the Senate, won the House, elected an Attorney General and state Auditor, and perhaps a governor.
Where does Democrat money for Minnesota elections come from? Mostly from public sector unions, which have a a financial interest in ever-expanding government and whose participation is inherently corrupt, and rich liberals from New York, Illinois, California and other states. Relatively little comes from Minnesota voters. When it comes to grass roots, Minnesota’s GOP vastly outperforms the DFL. If only people who vote in Minnesota elections were contributing to candidates, Republicans would win going away. But the Democrats can afford to forget about small donors when rich coastal liberals, many armed with inherited wealth, are on their side.
Here is our podcast, titled “Minnesota For Sale.” One worries about the future of our democracy when one political party has vastly greater financial resources than the other, and a medium-sized state can be bought for $97 million:
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