The Crunch

Riverview Community Bank in Otsego, Minn., has been cited by the FDIC in connection with “unsafe and unsound banking practices.” Former Secretary of State and current Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, is an owner and director of the bank — an institution that founders say was inspired by the hand of God.

Stanley and Karen Hubbard are in a league of their own when it comes to political contributions. In the first 18 months of this election cycle the couple doled out $163,500 to federal political candidates and causes — $40,000 more than the next most generous Minnesota household. Republicans have largely been the beneficiaries of their largesse, with more than 80 percent of that money ending up in GOP coffers.

Who occupies the other nine slots in Minnesota’s Top 10 political donors? Click inside to see.

Minnesota’s top 100 political donors have pitched in a collective $4.1 million to federal candidates since the start of 2007. That’s around $40,000 per family. In this week’s installment of The Crunch, we look at donors ranked 21st through 30th — a field that includes Vance Opperman, dubbed in 1998 “the most powerful man you’ve never heard of,” who, with his wife, comes in at number 27; gay marriage foe Robert Cummins (#21); and, Minnesota’s 24th most generous giver, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and his wife, who’ve contributed nearly $50,000 to state and federal GOP candidates and causes this cycle.

The top 100 political givers in Minnesota have contributed $4.1 million to campaigns so far during the 2008 election season, or more than $40,000 per household. Republican donors have cut checks for $2.3 million, while their Democratic counterparts have handed out $1.8 million. To get a better understanding of the state’s most generous political patrons, the Minnesota Independent commissioned a study by the Center for Responsive Politics looking at the top 100 contributors. In this our fourth installment, we look at donors 31 through 40, a list that includes the pro-union pizza roll magnate Jeno Paulucci and former U.S. Bancorp chair John Grunhofer.

The third installment of our multi-part look at Minnesota’s top 100 political donors focuses on contributors ranked 41st to 50th — a group of individuals or couples who have given between $32,750 and $36,800 each. Familiar names include Robert Pohlad, one of Twins owner Carl Pohlad’s three sons; Michael Wigley, founder of the Taxpayers’ League of Minnesota, and Al Franken, who with his wife Franni gave $33,800 to Democratic candidates this cycle.

Wealthy political donors don’t have the clout they once wielded. Unlimited contributions to political parties were outlawed by the 2002 McCain-Feingold Act and individuals are limited to giving $4,600 to a candidate during each election cycle. While these strictures curtail the influence that individual donors can exert on elected officials, wealthy contributors continue to play [...]