With nearly five months before the election, the two sides fighting over a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage have already raised a combined $4.5 million since January.
Minnesotans United for All Families, the lead group opposed to a constitutional amendment, raised more than $3.1 million from 16,000 mostly instate contributors, according to campaign finance reports released Tuesday.
All told, the group has raised $4.6 million dollars since forming the campaign.
"What this report shows is that the conversation we are having across this state is working, and that more and more, Minnesotans are coming to the conclusion that limiting the freedom to marry for same-sex couples is not how we do things in Minnesota," said Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families. "Minnesotans know that marriage is about love, commitment and responsibility, and no one would want to be told it's illegal to marry the person you love."
The group pushing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota has raised $1.4 million since January.
"We are thankful for the strong support of the people of Minnesota in our effort to preserve marriage as the union between one man and one woman in our state Constitution," said John Helmberger, Minnesota for Marriage chairman.
Helmberger said groups supporting the amendments in other states are frequently outspend by opponents, yet they have won 31 times without defeat.
"We are confident that the people of Minnesota will come together to raise the resources necessary to win and not let our state's definition of marriage be defined by activist judges or liberal out of state organizations," he said in a statement. "We don't have to match our opponents spending; we only need to mobilize people who believe marriage should be protected. We have the people of Minnesota on our side, and we remain confident of victory."
