Candidate · November 3, 2026

Betty McCollum

On the ballot for U.S. House · Minnesota's 4th District

Democratic-Farmer-LaborIncumbent
raised through Oct 14, 2026
$1.5M
cash on hand
$526K
issues with public statements
3

§1On the ballot

Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.

OfficeU.S. House · Minnesota's 4th District1
Party on the ballotDemocratic-Farmer-Labor1,2,3
StatusIncumbent — Currently represents Minnesota's 4th District in the U.S. House.4
Also on the ballot

§2Who they are

Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Her campaign website says she graduated from South St. Paul public schools, earned an A.A. from Inver Hills Community College and a B.A. in education from St. Catherine University, and worked as a social studies teacher and in retail at Sears and Dayton’s.5 It says she served six years on the North St. Paul City Council and was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1992, serving four terms.5 It says she was elected to Congress in 2000, is the dean of the Minnesota congressional delegation, and serves on the House Appropriations Committee, where she is the ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee and a senior member of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee.5

Service in Congress since 2023

  • 2025–nowU.S. Representative, MN-44
  • 2023–2025U.S. Representative, MN-44

Websites and accounts

§3What they've said on the issues

Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.

Environment and Public Lands

Conservation and development on federal lands

Her campaign website says she introduced the Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act to permanently shield Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Wilderness from sulfide-ore copper mining, and that on the Interior-Environment Subcommittee she works to keep federal funding for the EPA, national parks and public lands.5

  1. Protect more land, such as with new national monuments or wilderness areas
  2. Keep roughly the current mix of protection and development
  3. Open more federal land to mining, logging and grazing
Marked: the option their statement matches.

Agriculture and Rural Life

Animal welfare laws

Her campaign website says she has introduced legislation to expand animal cruelty protections for cold-blooded animals.5

  1. No new federal animal welfare rules, and pass a federal law barring states from requiring that meat and eggs sold there come from animals housed a certain way
  2. Keep current federal laws, with states free to add their own protections
  3. Add federal protections, such as bans on horse slaughter and on testing cosmetics on animals
Marked: the option their statement matches.

Foreign Policy and Defense

Military spending

Her campaign website says that as ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee she backs defense spending that is responsible and accountable and aimed at deterring adversaries and supporting allies and service members.5

§4Popular bills that never got a vote

Why this matters: Many bills with wide support from both parties never reach a vote, so no member of Congress is ever on record for or against them. Signing on as a sponsor or cosponsor is the only public record of support.

While Betty McCollum served, these bills had broad support from both parties but never reached a floor vote. No officeholder ever had to vote on them. Betty McCollum sponsored or cosponsored 33 of the 52. How bills die without a vote.

See all 52

§5Money

Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left. Outside groups that spend on their own, without coordinating with the campaign, report that too.

Reported to the Federal Election Commission for the 2025–2026 election cycle, through October 14, 2026.61

Raised$1,539,014
Spent$1,567,669
Cash on hand$526,264

Where the money came from

Individual donors$938K · 61%
PACs and other political committees$593K · 39%
Political party committees$1,000 · 0%
Other receipts (other loans, refunds, interest)$7,424 · 0%

§6Financial disclosures

Why this matters: Federal candidates and members of Congress must report their assets, income, debts and outside jobs, and members must report stock trades. These filings show possible conflicts of interest.