Up and down the line, Democrats have the cash advantage

In Minnesota, the Democrats have the cash advantage.

According to state reports filed this week, the Minnesota DFL has raised more than the Minnesota Republican Party, the Democratic legislative party caucuses pciked up more than the GOP organizations and each of the DFL constitutional office seekers gathered than their GOP counterparts.

While there are nuances to the fundraising figures -- GOP Tony Sutton points out that incumbents have a fundraising advantage and the GOP tends to gather cash in its federal, not state account -- the hauls could be an early indication of the parties' strength for the final four months.

A look at the party numbers:

The DFL raised $1.9 million this year and had $118,000 left in the bank. That's in contrast to the $677,000 the MN Republican party raised. The GOP had only about $14,000 cash on hand.

The DFL House caucus raised $813,000 and, because it started the year with more than $300,000 on hand, still had $773,000 cash on hand. The Republican House caucus was well outraised but ended on an even keel -- it brought in $548,000 but, given that it started the year with about $450,000 in the bank, it had $702,000 left to spend.

The DFL Senate caucus raised $943,000 and had $640,000 left to spend. The Republican Senate caucus raised just over $200,000 and had $227,000 as of July 19.

The DFL governors' candidates, who face a contested primary, have far outraised GOP's Tom Emmer, in part because of Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza's personal wealth. All told the three major Democrats brought in nearly $8 million for their campaigns. Emmer raised $779,000 this year and has $296,000 left to spend. By comparison, Entenza's raised $3.9 million by July 19 largely from his own pocket and funneled another $450,000 to his campaign last week, meaning his reported $132,000 vastly understates how much he has left. Dayton's raised $2.9 million, again largely from his own wealth, and had $335,000 left. Even Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who doesn't have deep pockets, outraised the Republican candidate. She brought in $984,000 and had $378,000 cash on hand.