2025 is an off-year for elections in Minnesota, except for the municipal contests in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Still, there is information to be gleaned from off-year campaign finance filings.
The latest batch of filings were due late last month, covering the period from January 1 through September 16. Most campaign entities are exempt from mid-year filings in off-years. So the complete picture won’t be known until January 2026, when all entities must file for the full calendar year 2025.
For mid-September, here is the Top 25 list for the DFL money game, compiled with many caveats and nuances.
My full spreadsheet runs to more than 100 entries, with the intent to capture all donors giving $4,000 or more and a few noteworthy others.
The entries listed in italics are DFL party units. These units do not provide money, they are merely conduits for actual donors. So, I have backed out (in red) donations captured elsewhere in the top 100 to avoid double-counting. On net, I’ve recorded more than $4 million in DFL campaign cash raised in 2025.
The state DFL party reports raising more than $3 million so far in 2025. Of that amount, only $3,253 was reported from donors giving less than $200 each. This pool of small-dollar donors comprises less about one-tenth of one percent of the total (0.1 percent) raised.
The entities rendered in bold are also campaign conduits, political funds raising money on either side of the Minneapolis DFL divide. All for MPLS backs the city’s moderate Democrats and is backed by local business interests. MPLS for the Many supports the city’s socialist candidates.
Here, again, I have backed out the large-dollar donors to each camp.
The next campaign finance report is due late this month, covering the period through October 20.
