The DFL is in the midst of an extended campaign of sniveling about the amount of money in politics.
A look at this list of independent expenditures registered from the 10 Minnesota House races that flipped last election shows you why:
The DFL spent more. Sometimes a helluvva lot more. And it didn’t work.

The candidate with the most indy spending in each race is color-flagged.
Of 10 races, DFL groups outspent GOP groups in eight of them, notching a little over 10% more independent spending. And that doesn’t even tell the whole story.
- Remember all the whining
Zach Dorholt didthe Twin Cities media did on Zach Dorhold’s behalf about big money in his district? His independent expenditures were 20% higher than Knoblach’s. - The GOP spent more on Peggy Bennet than the DFL wasted on Shannon Savick – by about $4,000. That speaks to what a terrible campaign Savick ran, and what a lousy term she had in office – and the power of the grass roots that turned out to bounce her. Don’t screw with the Second Amendment outstate!
- On the other hand – Erickson vs. Hancock (over 2:1 in favor of the DFLer) and Fritz vs. Daniel (almost 3:1 for the DFL?) Holy cow.
- Against that, the GOP indies only outspent the DFL in two of the flips; the Bennet/Savick race, as already noted, and a 15% margin in the Heintzelman/Ward race.
So no wonder the DFL is so concerned about rationing money in politics; theirs didn’t work. They need less competition.
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