House GOP raises $1m in 2011, DFL caucus raises $860k

The Minnesota Republican and DFL House caucuses have released their fundraising totals for 2011, pulling in more than $1 million and $860,000 respectively for their 2012 campaign efforts.

Fundraising and spending reports are due from all four legislative caucuses to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure board on Tuesday. The House Republican Campaign Committee has about $742,000 cash on hand. DFLers did not release that number on Tuesday, but say they still have a significant amount of cash in the bank.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers says Republican’s numbers came in “ahead of where we expected.” “Our numbers reflect support for the Republican agenda of jobs, economic opportunity, education reform and government reform,” he said in a statement.

In a news release, the House minority caucus noted that their numbers represent their largest ever non-election year haul. They raised $200,000 more than they did in 2005, the year before DFLers last won a majority in the state House.

“Many members of our caucus have worked hard to raise the resources we need to be competitive in the coming election,” said Deputy Minority Leader Debra Hilstrom in a statement. “We know the stakes are high for our state, so we will continue to build a strong grassroots effort between now and November.”