Campaign finance reports made public by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board suggest that spending by political action committees (PACS) for and against LGBT equality made little impact in the 2014 elections in Minnesota.

The results of the November election meant a change in leadership in the Minnesota House after Republicans defeated a dozen DFLers in Greater Minnesota swing districts. Though conservative Christian groups claimed victory for targeting those DFLers, the campaign finance reports show very little spending through those groups. Those reports show that anti-LGBT forces spent just over $5,000 in the November elections.

Anti-equality
The political arms of the Minnesota Child Protection League and the Minnesota Family Council each took some credit in defeating DFL members of the House.

Child Protection League Action, in an email in November, wrote,

We are excited to announce the election defeat of the four incumbent House members who were targeted by the Child Protection League PAC. These incumbents, and seven others who were also defeated on November 4th, all voted to betray our children by passing the dangerous 2014 Bullying Bill… And not a single legislator who opposed the Bullying Bill was defeated!

In sum, CPL Action spent $5,162.88 in the 2014 election targeting three candidates (though the group’s email mentions four). The PAC did not return a request for information about its spending in 2014.

The group targeted spent $1,534.55 for postcards against Rep Andrew Falk. Total outside spending in Falk’s district, according to an analysis by John Rouleau, Executive Director of the conservative MN Jobs Coalition, was $518,428.41 meaning CPL Action’s contribution was about 0.29 percent of all activity in the district.

The group also spent $1,541.27 targeting Rep. Jay McNamar which was 0.26 percent of the $588,810 spent in the district.

CPL Action spent $1,213.90 against Rep. Shannon Savick which was 0.22 percent of the $548,837.47 spent in the district.

CPL Action’s funds came mainly from its founders. Barb Anderson, a spokesperson for the group, gave $1,100. Renee Doyle, the PAC’s treasurer, gave $1,250. Michele Lentz, the group’s lobbyist, gave $1,050. Julie Quist, a founding member, gave $421 and her husband, Republican activist Allen Quist gave a $500 loan.

Another $500 came from Seaton Douglas, an employment law attorney who has given almost $500,000 to conservative candidates and causes over the last decade.

The remaining $841.88 came from donors, but the amounts were small enough that they didn’t have to be reported.

The Minnesota Family Council’s PAC says it targeted six key House races. In an email in November, the group wrote:

MFC selected six key House districts in Greater Minnesota, with the goal of helping Minnesotans in those districts who were seeking new leaders who would represent their family values (Districts 2A, 10A, 10B, 11B, 12A, and 17A). MFC also assisted one district in which an incumbent candidate who represents well the values of her district faced a challenger hostile to family values and religious freedom (1B).The prolife, pro-religious freedom, pro-family values candidate in all seven of these districts prevailed.

“We predicted since 2013 that Minnesotans who felt betrayed by elected officials who forced a redefinition of marriage on them would speak clearly at the polls in 2014. We were honored to help Minnesotans in all six of our key districts select better representation for themselves! Folks in these districts will now be represented by leaders who will share their family values. We were also honored to support Dan Severson in his extremely close campaign for Secretary of State,” Helmberger said.

The Family Council doesn’t say how they helped defeat those House members, but the group did not spend any money on independent expenditures in the November 2014 election. Instead, the group spent money in support of the primary challenge of anti-LGBT Republican Sheila Kihne against Rep. Jennifer Loon, a Republican from Eden Prairie who voted for marriage equality.

Though these two groups spent little in the 2014 election, it may have been that they didn’t have to. Freedom Club, a Minnesota-based conservative political organization headed by a number of wealthy Republican activists, spent money targeting candidates that backed marriage equality. As Bluestem Prairie noted in December, the group sent mailers in Rep. Andrew Falk’s district. The mailer read in part:

But Andrew Falk turned his back on our values and voted in support of legalizing gay marriage.
Falk voted to legalize gay marriage without proper legal protections, jeopardizing our family values for his liberal St. Paul friends.
Falk’s vote set the stage to legalize gay marriage in Minnesota and put the foundation of our families at risk.

It’s unknown how much of the nearly $250,000 that Freedom PAC spent was spent on campaign ads against marriage equality. Minnesota law doesn’t require PACs to list the content of ads or other campaign materials.

Pro-equality
The PAC of Minnesotans United didn’t spend money directly for or against candidates in 2014. Instead the group donated money to several other PACs.

The group spent a total of $143,082 in 2014. $64,900 was spent on administrative costs. $10,000 went to the Republican-led Freedom Minnesota PAC which spent money in support of Rep. Loon against the anti-LGBT Kihne.

The group gave $35,700 to OutFront Minnesota Action and $32,482 to Project 515.

OutFront MN Action spent $20,665 on mainly administrative functions. Another $7,238 went to OutFront MN Action Independent Expenditure Fund, all of which was spent supporting House members in Greater Minnesota who supported marriage equality including: Reps. Zach Dorholt, Roger Erickson, Andrew Falk, Tim Faust, Peter Fischer, Laurie Halverson, Jay McNamar, Will Morgan, Joe Radinovich, Paul Rosenthal, Shannon Savick, Yvonne Selcer, John Ward, and Barb Yarusso.

OutFront Minnesota Action had a $24,450 balance remaining at the end of 2014.

Project 515 spent $22,731.20 on administration. $17,600 went directly to candidates including Gov. Mark Dayton, Reps. Zach Dorholt, Roger Erickson, Andrew Falk, Tim Faust, Peter Fischer, Ben Lien, Sandra Masin, Jay McNamar, John Persell, Paul Rosenthal, Shannon Savick, Yvonne Selcer, JoAnn Ward, John Ward, and Barb Yarusso.

The remaining $2,404.27 was donated back to Minnesotans United once Project 515 closed its doors in late summer.