With a hotly contested September 29 DFL primary in Minnesota House District 3A to fill the vacant seat created by the loss of Representative David Dill to cancer in early August, at least one independent expenditure radio ad has hit the airwaves, a hit piece against Bill Hansen from the conservative group Minnesota Jobs Coalition.
Since only candidates in special elections need file pre-primary fundraising reports (September 22 for MN3A) and pre-general reports (December 1), voters won't know who's ponying up for party and PAC independent expenditures until February 1, 2016, when year end reports for 2015 are due at the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board for all registered political parties, candidates and PACs.
We'd checked with the Board by email and received this response from Executive Director Gary Goldsmith:
Minnesota statutes do not provide for additional reporting for party units or political committees or funds in a special election, so for this year we will see only the year-end reports.
Only candidates in the election have additional reporting, so we won’t know anything about independent expenditures until the year-end reports.
Gary
Gary Goldsmith
Executive Director
Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board
As we noted, the independent expenditure spending for the Northeastern Minnesota special election has begun. Blois Olson noted in Thursday's Morning Take:
HS3A: The Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund announced an independent expenditure radio advertisement in Minnesota House District 3A against Bill Hansen. Via the news release, VERBATIM: "Bill Hansen has tried to campaign as a moderate but the reality is Hansen is the only candidate in District 3A who opposes mining projects like PolyMet. Hansen has twice been endorsed by DFL activists in the past and has been endorsed by liberal-environmentalist special interest groups," LISTEN: http://bit.ly/1Kiq28o
Bluestem doesn't know what's more entertaining. The spectacle of a group whose last fundraiser was headlined by the union-buster next door (August 18th's Minnesota Jobs Coalition Fundraiser Featuring Special Guest Governor Scott Walker) stepping into the DFL primary in a labor dominated district?
Or the irony of a well-funded Twin Cities-based ideological political action group funded by special interests ripping one DFL second-generation business owner for ties to metro special interests?
Tough call.
There's also the distinct possibility that many radio listeners will have no idea who the Minnesota Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund is--or where its money comes from. The nearest spending by MJC was $4,068.70 in the 10B Cayuna Range race against Joe Radinovich and a whopping $95,341.44 in 10A against John Ward.
And given the rules, the voters won't know who's tossing coin in the MJC pot until nearly two months after the election.
We suspect it isn't labor for this one, since past campaign finance reports reveal contributions from Pro Jobs Majority (aka corporate dollars from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce), anti-labor lawyers like Doug Seaton, and the national Republican corporate ATM, the Republican State Leadership Committee.But we've seen stranger things from the 49ers.
In February, Minnesota Public Radio's Catherine Richert reported in 2014 Minnesota campaign cost at least $28 million:
- The Republican State Leadership Committee: This Washington, D.C.-based group invested heavily in trying to help Minnesota Republicans win back control of the state House, donating $355,000 to the Minnesota Jobs Coalition to spend on GOP House candidates. And while Republicans they supported in suburban areas of the state mostly lost, candidates in greater Minnesota won – giving the GOP the majority in the House.
- The Minnesota Jobs Coalition: This group was among many conservative organizations that backed Republican House candidates. But what set it apart from the pack was its close work with the RSLC, serving as the primary conduit for the group’s money. Unlike the state Republican Party and other GOP groups, the Minnesota Jobs Coalition spent most of its money targeting candidates for the Minnesota House. After fine-tuning its messaging and microtargeting strategies early in the year, the group also invested its cash in races that were considered a long shot early in the election, forcing Democrats to match that investment . . .
With the MN Jobs Coalition's victories in helping to flip the House under the leadership of Ben Golnik, Speaker Kurt Daudt hired the seasoned political operative in mid-November as Executive Director of the Republican Majority Caucus. We strongly suspect that he's not estranged from his old colleagues at the MJC.
If Tom Bakk is cheering the MN Job Coalition Legislative attack on an environmental-minded DFLer in his own senate district, he might have some chicken come home to roost, since the Republican State Leadership Committee has put his senate leadership on its to-do list for 2016. As Bluestem reported in MN Jobs Coalition Legislative Fund's biggest donor in flipping House vows to take Senate, that money is likely to be funneled via the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, given its prowess in 2014.
Can the pro-sulfide mining Rangers keep it together long enough to recognize that the enemy of their "enemy" is not their friend? With Dill--justly known as the brain of the outfit--passed on, we can only wonder.
Photo: Voters won't know who put the hay in the Minnesota Jobs Coalition's money barn--or any party or PAC loft--until February 1.
If you appreciate Bluestem's posts, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or use the paypal button below:
Email subscribers can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen at gmail.com as recipient.
Comments