by Tony Petrangelo

Jun 21, 2012, 7:00 AM

Money raised in support of and opposition to the two constitutional amendments

The fundraising reports for all the groups raising and spending money for and against the two constitutional amendments were due on the 19th and the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board made them available yesterday morning.

This post is a brief overview of what was in those reports.

There were no fewer than eight groups active on one side or another of the anti-marriage amendment who were essentially funneling all the money they raised to one of two groups, Minnesotans for Marriage and Minnesotans United for all Families.

The Freedom to Marry Minnesota PAC, out of New York, raised $17,000 in unitemized contributions that were used in support of MN United. The Human Rights Campaign’s Minnesota Family Freedom PAC raised over $35,ooo in cash, contributing that, along with almost $80,000 worth of in-kind contributions in the form of polling and consulting.

In all MN United raised over $3.1 million and spent all most as much. They ended the reporting period with almost $950,000 cash on hand.

In support of the amendment the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s Marriage Defense Fund started the period with over $350,000 and raised over $250,000 more, giving $400,000 of it to Minnesotans for Marriage.

The Minnesota Family Council’s Marriage Protection Fund (who’s treasurer John Helmberger brazenly put in a $113,000 line item expense for “various allocated overhead.” Nice detail!) raised over $260,000, giving $150,000 of it to Minnesotans for Marriage (treasurer also John Helmberger).

In all Minnesotans for Marriage raised just over $588,000 from January 1st to June 12th, with $550,000 of it coming from the two organizations listed above. The National Organization for Marriage also contributed $15,000, meaning 96% of Minnesotans for Marriage’s money came from three groups.

That’s some broad base of support!

There were six groups in support of or opposition to the Photo Voter ID constitutional Amendment who filed reports.

America Votes for Minnesota’s Future raised $8,800 in opposition of the amendment, the vast majority consisting of in-kind contributions that were contributed to Our Vote Our Future. Our Vote Our Future itself raised just over $50,000 and spent most of it, they finished the period with just over $5,000 in the bank.

Also in opposition to the Photo Voter ID amendment is the MN Ballot Question Fund, which raised $17,500 this quarter from a single donation from the AARP, who gave the same amount last period. The group has spent no money, so they have $35,000 in the bank.

The League of Women Voters is in the game as well with the group, Vote No on Voter ID, which raised almost $13,000, spending almost $11,000.

There are just two groups supporting the Photo Voter ID amendment, ProtectMyVote.com raised over $75,000 and has almost $20,000 left in the bank. The other group Voter ID for Minnesota raised $20,000 and has $6,600 left in the bank.

So while the side in opposition to the marriage amendment is raising significantly more money than the pro side, things are about even on the Photo Voter ID front.

There is a huge disparity in money being raised and spent on the two amendments themselves though.

Minnesotans for Marriage, which got badly out-raised by Minnesotans United for All Families, nonetheless significantly out-raised everyone raising money on the Photo Voter ID amendment combined.

This might help to illustrate the disparity a little better:

If you would like to help out, here are links to the two main organizations fighting the good fight:

MN United
Our Vote Our Future