Minnesota Independent

Mike Dean, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota

Campaign finance board investigating complaint against RGA, Minnesota’s Future, says Common Cause

By Patrick Caldwell | 10.08.10 | 3:11 pm

The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board has begun an investigation prompted by a complaint filed last week by Common Cause Minnesota, according to that group’s executive director, Mike Dean. The complaint alleges that the three groups coordinated to funnel money from the Republican Governor’s Association through Minnesota’s Future LLC to Minnesota’s Future, an independent expenditure committee with the same name, without disclosing all of the required donor information. The RGA has provided essentially all of the funding for Minnesota’s Future, which has used that money to run ads attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton.

There are no conflicts of interest in Pawlenty’s Minnesota

By Jon Collins | 12.22.09 | 11:24 am

Since Gov. Tim Pawlenty took office in 2003, not one public official has filed a conflict-of-interest disclosure with the state ethics board, an unprecedented streak for a disclosure system that was routinely used for the previous three decades. Critics blame the precedent set by the Pawlenty administration’s own numerous ethical lapses, as well as the outdated disclosure requirements that are rife with loopholes.

That’ll be the Day: When does a state senator become a lobbyist?

By Chris Steller | 12.14.09 | 2:33 pm

A video advocating for casino gambling at the state’s racetracks shows state Sen. Dick Day on the State Capitol steps, inside a horse barn, and behind his Senate office desk, all the while promoting the “racino” cause…

Uproar over Kelliher’s data-buy sets her apart in way she didn’t need

By Chris Steller | 12.11.09 | 1:10 pm

Just when Margaret Anderson Kelliher appeared to be pulling away from the pack running for governor with a series of endorsements, charges that she violated campaign-finance rules are setting her apart in ways she didn’t need.

Dozens of Minneapolis campaign, PAC financials delayed or missing

By Chris Steller | 09.24.09 | 9:19 am

Although Minneapolis held no primary election this year, candidates for city office still had to file “pre-primary” campaign-finance reports under a new ordinance passed this summer. Yet for two weeks after the Sept. 8 deadline, confusion and other delays kept a couple dozen candidate and political committee reports from reaching the public.

Gold rush: Pols pan for cash before refund program runs dry

By Chris Steller | 06.19.09 | 4:11 pm

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s announced plans to axe state refunds for political contributions of $50 or less has set off an email stampede as candidates urge donors to give before the program dies July 1.