Ken Martin, chair of the state Democratic party (styled in Minnesota as Democratic-Farmer-Labor, DFL) is moving up to chair the national Democratic party.
Martin had served as head of the state Democratic party since 2011. His biggest claim to fame was his unbeaten streak in “statewide” races (Governor, state Attorney General, U.S. Senator, etc.). The start of this winning streak predates his party tenure by more than four years.
Martin’s Democrats had more mixed success in other contests. At the state legislature, House Democrats lost to Republican majorities in 2014, 2016, and 2024. State Senate Democrats lost in 2016 and 2020. Under his leadership, Democrats both gained the “trifecta” (controlling House, Senate, and Governor) in 2012 and 2022, only to immediately lose it again in 2014 an 2024.
During Martin’s time, Democrats lost long-held U.S. congressional seats in the 1st, 7th, and 8th districts, the state’s most rural areas. Outside of the Twin Cities metro area a few regional population centers, Democrats are not competitive in large swaths of the state.
But the biggest job of a party chair is fundraising. Here’s how much money Martin raised last year for the state DFL party,
That top-line number of over $10.5 million looks impressive until you dig a couple of layers down. His top two donors, representing most of the 2024 party haul, were the campaign arms of the Democrats in the state legislature.
The third-largest donor was the Ohio Democratic Party. This may strike you as odd until you learn that these inter-party transfers are part of a (presumably legal) money laundering operation between states and their state-level and Federal-level campaign accounts. The MN party also did transactions with the counterpart Michigan, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma parties, taking a healthy cut, of course, as a commission.
Netting out these intra-party and inter-party financial transactions leaves a much less impressive $4.3 million.
Donors shown above in italics are public-employee labor unions (the “L” in DFL). These donations totaled almost $900,000 last year, all of which originated from you, the taxpayer. As for farmers, the “F,” a total of $1,500 (not a typo) was received from this category.
Individuals also gave significant contributions to the party. Alida Messinger–Rockefeller-oil heiress and ex-wife of former MN Gov. Mark Dayton, himself a department-store heir–was good for $300,000. George Soros of New York City added $125,000 out of his own pocket.
As for small-dollar, grassroots donors (those giving less than $200 a year), state Democrats took in a total of just over $6,000 from this category. That figure is not a typo. $6,000.
Minnesota Democrats are the party of fat cats, government unions, and money laundering. As Martin moves to the national level, it’s not clear how well this formula will translate.
The horse trading between state-level parties is a zero-sum game, robbing Peter to pay Paul. As I’ve previously documented, Minnesota Democrats are dependent on campaign cash generated out of state.
Again, at the national level, that’s a zero-sum game. And it may not work in Minnesota any longer. As ABC News reported, every state (all 50) shifted to the right in 2024.
Leading the way was New York, which Harris only won by about 13 points after Biden carried it by 23 points — a swing of more than 10 points. Other populous blue states like New Jersey (10 points) and California (9 points) also swung notably to the right, as did large red states like Florida (10 points) and Texas (8 points).
The biggest red shift occurred in the biggest, bluest states. So, a lot of the coastal campaign cash that had been finding its way to Minnesota, may need to stay home to stem the Democrats’ sagging fortunes.
As I’ve documented before, depending on the context and the year, Democrats enjoy a fundraising advantage over Republicans of something between 2 times and 10 times the money. And it doesn’t seem to be working for them.
Earlier this month, the Minnesota Reformer looked at the situation in 2024, where MN House Democrats lost the majority they had held since 2018. The Reformer concludes,
Minnesota House Democrats raised three times as much money as House Republicans in 2024, according to the latest batch of data from the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. And it still wasn’t enough to keep their trifecta this past November.
In 2026, all of the seats in both the state House and Senate will be on the ballot. Gov. Tim Walz, fresh off of his defeat as the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, is expected to run for a third term.