Minnesota candidates for governor, other statewide offices, and the state legislature file campaign finance reports with the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board (CFB) once they raise or spend more than $750, registering within 14 days and filing a year-end report every January 31. Candidates for city council, county board, school board, and most other local races file with a county auditor or municipal clerk instead, except in cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul that run their own local boards. Miss a CFB deadline and the Board assesses a late filing fee for every day the report sits unfiled, and posts the delinquency where anyone can see it.
- Minnesota state and legislative candidates register with the CFB after crossing $750 in contributions or expenditures, then file by January 31 every year.
- 2026 is a statewide and legislative election year in Minnesota, so candidates on the ballot also owe pre-primary and pre-general reports 10 days before each election.
- City, county, and school board candidates usually file with a county auditor or city clerk, not the CFB, unless the city runs its own board like Minneapolis or St. Paul.
- Late reports draw a daily fee from the CFB, so catching a missed deadline within days matters more than the paperwork itself.
- A fundraising CRM that logs every contribution as it’s entered turns a Minnesota campaign finance report into an export, not a scramble.
Why this matters
A missed Minnesota campaign finance report doesn't just cost a fee. It shows up as a public delinquency next to your name on the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's site, which is exactly where opponents, reporters, and donors look first.
First-time candidates underestimate how fast the $750 threshold arrives. A single kickoff event or a spouse's loan to the campaign can cross it before a treasurer is even in place, which starts the 14-day registration clock whether the campaign noticed or not.
Getting the filing rhythm right in campaigndeputy.com matters more in 2026 than in an off year, because statewide and legislative candidates on the Minnesota ballot owe two extra reports on top of the standard year-end filing.
How do you file a Minnesota campaign finance report?
Filing with the CFB follows a fixed sequence, whether it's a year-end report or a pre-election one:
- Register with the CFB within 14 days of raising or spending more than $750 as a candidate or committee treasurer.
- Set up an account in the CFB's e-filing system and name a treasurer of record for the committee.
- Log every contribution and expenditure as it happens, with donor name, address, and amount recorded for each transaction.
- Reconcile bank records against the ledger before each deadline so the report total matches the actual account balance.
- File through the CFB's online portal by the applicable due date — year-end, pre-primary, or pre-general.
- Save the confirmation and correct any items the Board flags before the amendment window closes.
Skipping step 3 is the most common failure. Campaigns that try to reconstruct four months of contributions the week of January 31 usually get the numbers wrong, and a wrong report draws just as much scrutiny as a late one.
Year-end report: due January 31
Every registered Minnesota candidate and committee files a year-end report covering the prior calendar year, due January 31, whether or not an election happened during that year. This is the one filing every registered committee owes, election year or not.
Pre-primary and pre-general reports: due 10 days before each election
In an election year like 2026, candidates on the ballot owe two additional reports beyond the year-end filing: one due 10 days before the primary and one due 10 days before the general election. These reports cover the period since the last report and are the ones reporters and opponents check first, since they show fundraising momentum right before voters decide.
State and legislative candidates: file with the CFB
Candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state auditor, and the state legislature all file with the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. This is the state-level system built for statewide and legislative races specifically, separate from local election law.
Local candidates: file with the county or city, not the CFB
City council, county board, school board, and most other local candidates in Minnesota file with a county auditor or municipal clerk under a separate chapter of state election law, not with the CFB. Minneapolis and St. Paul are the exception — both cities run their own local campaign finance boards with separate forms and deadlines, so candidates there follow city rules instead of either the CFB calendar or a county auditor's schedule.
Why Minnesota's filing requirements vary by race
A handful of factors decide which calendar and which office a given campaign reports to:
- Office type — statewide and legislative races answer to the CFB; most local races answer to a county auditor or city clerk.
- Election year vs. off year — off-year candidates typically owe only the January 31 report; candidates on the 2026 ballot owe two extra reports.
- Whether the $750 threshold is crossed — below it, a candidate isn't required to register or report at all.
- Committee type — candidate committees, party units, PACs, and ballot question committees each register separately with their own forms.
- City-specific rules — Minneapolis and St. Paul run local boards with their own thresholds and deadlines, independent of the state CFB.
Who has to register with Minnesota's Campaign Finance Board?
Any candidate for state or legislative office, or their treasurer, has to register with the CFB once contributions or expenditures pass $750, and that registration is due within 14 days of hitting that mark. Political action committees, party units, and ballot question committees register separately, using their own CFB forms rather than the candidate registration.
What happens if a Minnesota campaign report is late?
A late report draws a daily fee from the CFB for every day it stays unfiled, and the Board lists the delinquency publicly on its site. Persistent non-filing can escalate further, so a missed January 31 deadline is worth fixing within days, not weeks, once someone on the campaign notices.
Does Minnesota require electronic filing for campaign finance reports?
Yes — state and legislative candidates and committees file through the CFB's online system rather than mailing paper reports. Local candidates filing with a county auditor or city clerk should confirm that office's preferred format directly, since some local filing officers still accept paper.
Manually rebuilding four months of contributions the week before a deadline is where most first-time treasurers lose a weekend, and it's the step most likely to introduce an error the CFB flags. Campaign Deputy's fundraising CRM logs each contribution and expenditure as it's entered, so bank reconciliation and the CFB report draw from the same running ledger instead of a spreadsheet rebuilt from memory — a workflow covered in more detail in training a campaign treasurer on compliance reporting. Campaign Deputy also flags upcoming deadlines automatically, which matters most in a two-report election year like 2026 when it's easy to remember January 31 and forget the pre-primary filing entirely, a gap covered in how to track campaign filing deadlines.
Stop rebuilding reports from memory
See how a fundraising CRM tracks every dollar for state filings automatically.
FAQ
How much can you raise before registering in Minnesota?
You can raise or spend up to $750 before Minnesota requires registration with the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Once you cross $750, you have 14 days to register a candidate committee and appoint a treasurer.
Is Minnesota campaign finance data public?
Yes, the CFB publishes registered candidates’ and committees’ reports on its site, including late filings and delinquencies. Anyone, including opponents and reporters, can search a candidate’s filing history at any time.
Do congressional candidates in Minnesota file with the CFB?
No, candidates for U.S. House and U.S. Senate file with the Federal Election Commission, not Minnesota’s CFB. The CFB covers state constitutional offices and the state legislature only.
Do PACs file the same reports as candidates in Minnesota?
No, political action committees register with the CFB separately from candidate committees and file on their own schedule. The registration threshold and forms differ from those used by candidate committees.
How do you fix a mistake on a filed Minnesota report?
You submit an amended report through the CFB’s online filing system correcting the specific entries in error. The Board typically flags obvious discrepancies, like a ledger total that doesn’t match the bank balance, before a filing is accepted as final.
What does a treasurer do for Minnesota campaign filings?
A treasurer is the person of record responsible for logging contributions and expenditures and submitting reports to the CFB or local filing officer by each deadline. Every registered Minnesota candidate committee needs one named at registration.
Does a city council candidate in Minneapolis file with the CFB?
No, Minneapolis runs its own local campaign finance board separate from the state CFB, so city candidates there follow Minneapolis’s deadlines and forms. St. Paul has a similar local board of its own.
When are Minnesota’s pre-election reports due in 2026?
Pre-election reports are due 10 days before the primary and 10 days before the general election in 2026 for any state or legislative candidate on the ballot. These come in addition to the standard January 31 year-end report.
One last thing
The $750 threshold catches more first-time candidates than they expect, because a loan from a spouse or a candidate's own money counts as a contribution the moment it crosses that line — not just checks from strangers. Anyone weighing a first run for state office in Minnesota is better off registering with the CFB early and reporting a zero-dollar quarter than crossing $750 quietly and discovering the 14-day clock has already run out.
Related guides
- How to file a campaign finance report in Wisconsin
- How to reconcile campaign bank records for finance reporting
