MN Forward draws more limited corporate support, picks up RGA backing

MN Forward — the independent expenditure organization that received heavy criticism for using donations from Target to run campaign ads supporting Republican Tom Emmer — has raked in $1.9 million so far this year. New campaign finance reports released Tuesday morning reveal that the group continues to receive the majority of its funds from local corporations, though high-profile public companies largely shied away from contributing to the group after the Target backlash.

Agricultural business Rosen’s Diversified Inc. contributed $100,000 to MN Forward on Sept. 23 and another $60,000 on Oct. 11. Three corporations that had previously contributed $100,000 to MN Forward bumped their contributions up an extra $50,000 in October: Hubbard Broadcasting — which owns KSTP — whey protein producer Davisco Food International and Federated Insurance Companies.

MN Forward also received a $50,000 donation from the Republican Governors Association (RGA) on Oct. 15. The group had previously made a show of endorsing a wider docket of candidates outside the gubernatorial race, but the new report shows that the group is now focused solely on electing Emmer. Over 97 percent of their expenditures on candidates has gone in either supporting Emmer or opposing Democratic candidate Mark Dayton.

The RGA is currently facing a complaint filed by the Minnesota chapter of Common Cause over their donations to another conservative outside group, Minnesota’s Future. That organization’s report is not yet available online (TAI will update this information when the full report is available online), but IRS filings by the RGA earlier this month showed that the national Republican group had poured an extra $400,000 into Minnesota’s Future.

The RGA was Minnesota’s Future’s sole backer outside of a small amount contributed by the group’s registered agent in the last finance report. However, even with the organization’s full report unavailable, that is no longer the case. Minnesota’s Future has posted four 24-hour notices that reveal funding sources from outside the RGA. Those included Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., which contributed $25,000 to Minnesota’s Future on Oct. 21, and New Horizon Feeds LLC, which added $5,000 to the group’s coffers on the same day.

The attention on corporate spending during the 2010 midterms has been a frequent target for Democrats, including President Obama, across the country. Yet Minnesota groups supporting Democratic causes picked up corporate backers during the last period as well. Win Minnesota — which has channeled money to another group named Alliance for a Better Minnesota, that has run ads attacking Emmer — received minor donations from two corporations: $25,000 from Kwik Trip Inc. and $10,000 from Anheuser-Busch. The latter contribution is especially out of sync with Democratic messaging this cycle. National Democrats have pounced on reports that the US Chamber of Commerce derives some of its funds from foreign-owned corporations, and Anheuser-Busch is the American subsidiary of Belgium-based InBev. Alliance for a Better Minnesota also received minor corporate backing through a $1,000 donation from T-Mobile USA, Inc.

Win Minnesota gained further corporate money through more indirect routes. The group received $1 million from the Democratic Governors Association over the course of two donations. Those DGA funds were originally provided by a slew of corporations, including AT&T ($100,000), Hewlett Packard ($50,000) and Allegheny Energy ($75,000).

Patrick Caldwell is the American Independent’s Minnesota correspondent.