Despite backlash against Target, MN Forward continues to rake in corporate donations

Tom Emmer. Photo: Wikipedia

After providing an outside political organization with $150,000 to run ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, the Target Corporation has come to symbolize the dangers posed by the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. The corporation’s CEO issued an apology letter after LGBT and immigration advocates protested the donation. National organizations such as MoveOn.org have turned against the company and the controversy was highlighted on MSNBC. For the company that was often know to progressives as the labor and LGBT friendly alternative to Wal-Mart, it has been a rough two weeks.

Despite the heat — and calls of boycott — Target has faced, campaign finance disclosures reveal that other Minnesota corporations have continued to give funds to MN Forward, the independent expenditure committee that ran the pro-Emmer ad. Since the last filing period in the middle of July, six corporations or trade associations have contributed $345,000 to MN Forward. The group of donors cover a wide array of industries and include well known local institutions such as Red Wing Shoes and Holiday, a local gas station chain. (Neither company returned phone calls for comment this afternoon.)

These donations may or may not be directly related to Emmer. MN Forward released a new list of endorsements Thursday that included a mix of Democrats and Republicans, though the Emmer commercial is still the only ad the organization has produced. With these latest donations, MN Forward has raised over $1.1 million. Previous corporate donors included Best Buy and beauty salon business Regis Corporation.

The new donations since the last filing period:

Holiday Companies: $25,000

Cold Spring Granite Company: $35,000

Red Wing Shoe Company, Inc.: $50,000

Pentair: $125,000

Federated Insurance: $100,000

Insurance Federation of MN: $10,000