After primary win, Mark Dayton now free to spend with light disclosure

Photo: MarkDayton.org

After last Tuesday’s primary, Minnesota voters learned the basic layout of the midterm election, with Democrats choosing former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton as their candidate to run against Tom Emmer for the governor’s seat. But with the candidates solidified, voters will actually know less about campaign finance after the primary election.

For state elections, Minnesota law designates different levels of disclosure for primary and general elections. In advance of the primary, candidates were required to file reports 28 and 15 days prior to the election. In addition, any contributions or loans at or above $1,600 received after July 24 had to be reported within 24 hours to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.

Now that the general election has officially begun, candidates will not be required to file campaign finance reports until shortly before the election. Unlike the two-stage pre-primary period, for the general election, candidates only file one report 10 days before Election Day. The same 24-hour notification rules kick in again for contributions received starting October 19.

It is hard to say whether Dayton planned around the shift in disclosure requirements, but his campaign will undoubtedly benefit from the rules. Over the last few weeks of the DFL primary, the other millionaire candidate, Matt Entenza, spent $1.3 million of his personal wealth. Dayton, on the other hand, did not loan his campaign any further funds after the last reporting period in the middle of July, avoiding filing any 24-hour notices. Part of that may have been overconfidence on the campaigns’ part; Dayton held large leads in every poll and spent primary day with his family rather than out campaigning like his two opponents. He ended up winning the nomination, but by a narrow one percent over Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

Recent Dayton statements indicate that he will rely more heavily on outside fundraising during the general election. But he is still likely to contribute significant sums of his wealth to boost his campaign. As the coverage of each of Entenza’s cash infusions proved, disclosures of new personal loans can disrupt a campaign narrative. Now that he is in the general election though, Dayton will be free to continually contribute his own funds to the campaign without the information being revealed until shortly before the election when most voters will have already made up their minds.

As of the disclosure form 15 days before the primary, Dayton had $334,000 cash left on hand and had used $2.76 million of his personal wealth to fund his campaign. Dayton’s Republican opponent Tom Emmer had $296,000 cash left in his campaign coffers after raising only $785,000 since the beginning of the year.

The less stringent post-primary disclosure laws could still benefit Emmer, but less directly. Emmer does not share Dayton’s personal wealth, so any large loans to his campaign are unlikely. However, Emmer has received the support of Minnesota’s business community and has reaped the benefits of corporate donations to the independent expenditure group MN Forward. Such groups were required to file reports at the same time as the candidates, including the 24-hour notices. It was through these notices and the 15-day pre-primary election report that the group’s corporate donors were revealed.

Independent expenditure organizations now also face a temporary reprieve in disclosure, though less generous of a break than the candidates. Political committees must file a disclosure form on Sept. 21, 42 days prior to the general election. Committees then fall under the same requirements as candidates, with a 10-day pre-election report and 24-hour notices for donations at or above $1,000 beginning Oct. 19.

Patrick Caldwell is the American Independent’s Minnesota correspondent.