Dakotas: Huge GOP Donations, Huge Earmarks

Then again....

Here's a spectacular statistic: for the current election cycle, 77.1% of federal campaign contributions to South Dakota candidates have gone to Republicans. And Senator John Thune doesn't even have a race to run. That's the second-highest GOP-contribution advantage in the nation. The highest: 81.6% in North Dakota.

Over in Minnesota, land of Pawlenty and Bachmann, the GOP–Dem federal campaign donation split is much more even: the Minnesota GOP gets 50.6% of federal campaign donations in the state.

Now consider what those donors get for their money: According to OpenSecrets.org, South Dakota is receiving $91.2 million in earmarks in FY2010. That's over $112 of pork per person. The big GOP donors in North Dakota get even more bacon for the buck: North Dakota gets $151.1 million in earmarks, $233.6 per person. Neighboring Minnesota, nearly four times more populous than both Dakotas put together, is receiving $68.9 million. That's $13 per Minnesotan, the second-lowest per capita earmark haul in the nation.