Brad Finstad
Republican
· MN-1 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Agriculture · Digital Assets · and Rural Development · Risk Management · and Credit · and Poultry · House Committee on Armed Services · Information Technologies · and Innovation · House Committee on Small Business · and Regulations · and Supply Chains
Influence Score
51.7
Moderately exposed
↓ -4.5
vs 118th (56.2)
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
5.0
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
3.9
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$4,371,345
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$249,613
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
4.6
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
5.7
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
0.7
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
9.0
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
6.0
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
4.8
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
1.5
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$15,004 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $31.15M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $62K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | — | — |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 11.5 | Least exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 56.2 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 51.7 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$943,541
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Network
SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY AMERICA
Share from this one network
2.9%
Amount from this network
$58,500
Total from all networks
$2,040,403
Networks contributing
334
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Who funds Finstad
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$5,253,323
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
2.1%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
79.0%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
6
Money that arrived near votes
$7K
Distinct donors
6
Distinct employers
5
Share of their total fundraising
0.61%
Biggest clusters of timed money
YOUNGDAHL INSURANCE
$2K
LPL FINANCIAL
$1K
MOUND PRAIRIE MUTUAL INSURANCE
$1K
PIONEER BANK
$1K
PIONEER BANK
$1K
STERLING STATE BANK
$1K
STERLING STATE BANK
$750
THE STATE BANK OF FARIBAULT
$520
COMPEER FINANCIAL
$500
MERCHANTS BANK
$500
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HOMEMAKER
$34K
FRONTIER LABS
$27K
KING CAPITAL GR
$26K
KING CAPITAL
$24K
MR PAVING
$24K
MR PAVING
$24K
KING CAPITAL
$23K
BURWELL
$22K
INKIT
$21K
ANDERSON TRUCKING SERVICE
$20K
HUBBARD BROADCAST
$20K
STARKEY HEARING TECHNOLOGIES
$20K
RTP
$20K
STARKEY HEARING TECHNOLOGIES
$20K
CHRISTENSEN FARMS
$19K
PGNU
$19K
HOUSEWIFE
$19K
BLUE RIDGE
$17K
ANDERSON TRUCKING SERVICE
$16K
CHRISTENSEN FARMS
$16K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Brad Finstad comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$2.48M
Disclosed outside spending
$2.19M
Dark-money outside spending
$292K
Share that is dark money
11.78%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$12K
Groups hiding their donors
3
By funding network
AMERICAN DREAM FEDERAL ACTION
$3.00M
EARN INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS
$796K
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY ACTION, INC. (AFP ACTION) DBA CVA ACTION AND DBA LIBRE ACTION
$491K
HOUSE FREEDOM ACTION
$248K
AMERICAN MAJORITY ACTION INC.
$46K
RIGHT NOW USA
$38K
NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE VICTORY FUND
$24K
PROTECT OUR KIDS PAC
$2K
MINNESOTA DEMOCRATIC-FARMER-LABOR PARTY
$2K
MINNESOTA CITIZENS CONCERNED FOR LIFE, INC. FEDERAL PAC
$1K
Groups that hide their donors
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
JEFFREY J KOLOZE
$8K
GEORGE ERBACHER
$3K
THOMAS MORRIS
$2K
EDWIN BOTERO
$300
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
35 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $42K to Brad Finstad across 49 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$42K
Shared contributors
35
Contributions
49
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 12 | 14 | $9K |
| 2024 | 23 | 26 | $20K |
| 2026 | 9 | 9 | $13K |
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Brad Finstad sits in the middle of this Congress on the index. There is a measured sponsor relationship, but the vote-alignment signal is weaker — money flows; the votes do not follow in lockstep.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required