Ex-MN GOP chair: Debt was worth legislative victories

Posted at 3:48 PM on December 30, 2011 by Paul Tosto
Filed under: Politics

As the Minnesota Republican Party today came to terms with debts totaling as much $2 million, the party's former chairman said the GOP's legislative successes were worth the cost.

"The party's debt situation is a reflection of a hard fought election combined with a difficult small dollar fundraising environment," Tony Sutton, the former Minnesota GOP chairman who quit a few weeks ago as worries over the debts surfaced, said in a prepared statement.

"The legislative majorities won in 2010 were worth it and the people of this state are better off for those GOP majorities,": he added. "I am confident that the party will overcome its debt and have a successful 2012 election cycle."

If the party ends up shouldering the entire $2 million debt, that would work out to about 30 percent of its total spending in 2010, according to MPR News reporter Tom Scheck.

Scheck checked records and found this for the Minnesota GOP for 2010:

State expenditures: $2,761,601
Federal expenditures: $3,908,936
Total spending: $6,670,537

Officials concede the party owes nearly $1.3 million. They're contesting another $719,000 in costs tied to last year's gubernatorial elections.

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