One tiny Minnesota suburb is responsible for more than 10 percent of all in-state large donor funds contributed to the state’s eight U.S. House members

Where do Minnesota’s U.S. House members get the biggest bang for their buck when looking to build their campaign warchests? Minneapolis? St. Paul?

Think smaller. Much smaller.

According to a Smart Politics analysis of Federal Elections Commission data for the first three quarters of 2009, the small, affluent western suburb of Wayzata has contributed more money per capita to the campaigns of the state’s eight U.S. Representatives this year than any other city in the Gopher State.

Despite having a population of slightly over 4,000 as of the 2000 U.S. Census, Wayzata residents have contributed more money in 2009 than any other Minnesota city with the exception of Minneapolis.

Wayzata residents have given $149,050 in itemized individual contributions through September, compared to $193,719 for Minneapolis – which has approximately 100 times more residents.

When examining the amount of contributions per capita, Wayzata has given $36.24 per resident, compared to $0.51 for Minneapolis, or a 71 times higher rate for the wealthy suburb.

In terms of total large donor ($200+) individual contributions, Wayzatians have given nearly $50,000 more to the state’s eight U.S. Representatives than the residents of St. Paul ($104,050) – or a 101 times higher rate per resident than the Gopher State’s second largest city ($0.36).

Overall, Wazayta has contributed 11.3 percent of the $1.3 million in large donor contributions that have been sent to Minnesota’s U.S. House delegation from across the state, despite the city having just 0.08 percent of the state’s population.

And which officeholders are the beneficiaries of this inordinate amount of campaign financing coming from this small town of 4,000+ residents?

More than half of the money from Wayzatians ($85,050) has been directed to the campaign of that town’s U.S. Representative, Republican Erik Paulsen. Overall, 87.9 percent of Wayzata resident’s contributions have gone to the state’s three GOP Representatives (with Michele Bachmann receiving $26,450 and John Kline getting $19,500).

The state’s five DFL U.S. Representatives combined have received less money from Wayzatians ($18,050) than Kline’s third place tally.

Itemized Individual Contributions to Minnesota’s U.S. Representatives from Wayzata Residents, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Contributions
Percent
1
Erik Paulsen
$85,050
57.1
2
Michele Bachmann
$26,450
17.7
3
John Kline
$19,500
13.1
4
Tim Walz
$12,550
8.4
5
Betty McCollum
$3,750
2.5
6
Keith Ellison
$1,250
0.8
7
Jim Oberstar
$500
0.3
8
Collin Peterson
0
0.0
 
Total
$149,050
100.0

Sources: Federal Elections Commission and U.S. Census (2000). Table compiled by Smart Politics.

Rounding out the Top 5 cities in terms of per resident contributions in the Gopher State is the small town of Woodstock in Pipestone County ($29.55 per resident), the small Twin Cities suburbs of Excelsior ($19.89) and Lilydale ($16.01), and the city of Lakeland in Washington County ($13.04).

Excelsior, despite having a population of less than 3,000, has seen its residents give more than $47,000 to Minnesota’s U.S. House delegation this year – good for the sixth highest total funds from any city across the state. Excelsior does not rank even in the Top 110 cities in the Gopher State in terms of population.

The other Top 10 cities in terms of total large donor contributions are Edina (#4, $93,350), Eden Prairie (#5, $85,650), Prior Lake (#7, $35,550), Burnsville (#8, $33,900), Minnetonka (#9, $29,450), and Woodbury (#10, $26,635).

And as for Minneapolis, the state’s largest (and overwhelmingly Democratic) city, 54.8 percent of large donor money ($106,174) was directed towards the three GOP members of Congress – 26.2 percent to Paulsen, 15.0 percent to Bachmann, and 13.6 percent to Kline. DFLer Tim Walz collected the most money ($52,170, or 26.9 percent), with 7.9 percent to Betty McCollum and just 6.1 percent to Keith Ellison ($11,750), who represents the city as part of the 5th Congressional District.

Ellison’s lack of fundraising within his own district was profiled earlier this week at Smart Politics.

Itemized Individual Contributions to Minnesota’s U.S. Representatives from Minneapolis Residents, January-September 2009

Rank
Representative
Contributions
Percent
1
Tim Walz
$52,170
26.9
2
Erik Paulsen
$50,814
26.2
3
Michele Bachmann
$29,045
15.0
4
John Kline
$26,315
13.6
5
Betty McCollum
$15,275
7.9
6
Keith Ellison
$11,750
%3

2 Comments

  1. being goode on November 11, 2009 at 9:21 am

    I really do not recall seeing any section eight housing out in that part of the “hood”. Except for Jimmy Jam Harris and his wife Karen White’s home out in Mound. I can’t say that this is a very diverse area. The demographics of education, income, wealth and power my good man. Thanks for the stats they speak for themselves. There certainly can’t any wonder why we receive so little LGA out here.

  2. Leslie Davis on December 25, 2009 at 4:44 pm

    Maybe all those big givers will check out Leslie Davis for Minnesota governor 2010 and spread the bread in his direction. http://www.LeslieDavis.org the Rebublic(m)an for governor.
    Thank you.

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