When we last looked at the mixed-up files of state representative Tim Miller, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board had just declared that its members had been unable to decide whether his committee, the Renville County GOP and the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Co-operative's state level PAC had violated state law and rules against earmarking funds.
Now it looks as if Miller's committee--or the conservative business people's Freedom Club State PAC is confused about contributions to Miller.
Here's a look at Miller's reported campaign contributions from political committees:
Here's the page of contributions to candidates from the report filed by the Freedom Club State PAC:
Let's hope the confused party files an amended report with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to fix that thang.
How sweet it is: Miller and the Beet Sugar PAC
A bit about the backstory about the earlier beet sugar tale: we reported about the case in MN Campaign Finance Board can't resolve beet PAC money & Miller complaint, closes case.
This after Miller had suspended his congressional campaign after saying that fundraising was hard.
The PAC (reports to the state campaign finance board here) which sent contributions to Miller in 2015 and 2016, declined to send Miller any money in 2017 to either state or federal account for the candidate. Poor Tim.
It did make its typical contributions to both party's House and Senate caucuses, as well as $500 to a handful of state legislators: state reps Jeff Backer, Greg Davids, Dan Fabian, Joshua Heintzeman, Deb Kiel and DFL rep Bob Ecklund; on the state senate side, the PAC gave $500 to Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFLers Nick Frentz and Dan Sparks while handing the same size of checks to Republicans Andrew Lang, John Jasinski and Bill Weber.
No money went to a county unit (they've learned that lesson). Perhaps the most surprising contribution is $4000 to the Walz gubernatorial campaign in December. The last large itemized contribution from the PAC to a gubernatorial campaign was $2000 to Marty Seifert in 2010.
Earlier filings are not available online.
Bluestem hopes that this gift to the Walz campaign won't signal to a Walz administration that "doing better" for those in Greater Minnesota means that it's okay to relax water quality standards, as a beet sugar coop executive begged at an environmental meeting Miller hosted in Olivia two years back. Water is life.
Photo: Part of the 2013 Beaver Creek fishkill, for which Southern Minnesota Sugar paid $1.5 million for violations. Screengrabs from 2017 campaign reports.
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