The well-heeled donors were joined by representatives from labor unions, Native American tribes and progressive policy groups. Shar Knutson, the newly elected president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO was on hand, as was Sarah Stoesz, president of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. There were also representatives from Education Minnesota, AFSCME and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

The impetus for this gathering: ending the Democrats’ more than two-decade drought in gubernatorial contests and forming a new political-action committee designed to raise money and have a major impact on the outcome of the race.

Opperman didn’t return a phone call seeking comment, and most other people who attended the meeting either declined to discuss the details or didn’t respond to calls seeking comment. “I don’t know that I feel real comfortable talking too much about it,” says Doran, in a typical response.

The organization responsible for putting the event together is Win Minnesota. The nonprofit organization has existed for several years, but the establishment of the political-action committee is a new development.

Ken Martin has been brought on as the organization’s executive director. He’s no stranger to electoral politics. In 2006 he served as campaign manager for DFL gubernatorial nominee Mike Hatch. Two years earlier he ran John Kerry’s presidential campaign in Minnesota.

“There’s nothing too mysterious about what we do here,” says Martin. “Our focus is on building a permanent progressive infrastructure that exists beyond campaigns and elections.”

Martin declined to get into the specifics of the meeting at Opperman’s office. But according to one person who attended the gathering the initial goal is to raise $2 million to bankroll what’s being billed as The 2010 Fund. The labor unions, Native American tribes and policy groups were each asked to come up with at least $50,000 initially. That money would then be matched by individual donors.

“Pooling our resources will allow us to do more and with little to no duplication,” reads a description of the fund that was handed out to attendees.

The document, a copy of which was obtained by Minnesota Independent, also describes the obstacles facing Democrats in 2010, including a crowded primary field and the possibility of a strong Independence Party candidate. There are currently 11 Democrats who have filed to run for the post.

“A competitive endorsement and primary contest will (1) drain our candidate of money (2) focus the conversation away from the general election voters and, (3) allow the GOP and IP candidates a free ride thru the spring and summer of 2010,” the document notes.

The establishment of the political fund more than a year before the gubernatorial contest is another sign that Democrats are serious about winning the state’s top office for the first time since 1986.

The stakes in the 2010 contest are even higher than usual because of the looming census. With Democrats already carrying large majorities in the state House and Senate, a win in the gubernatorial contest would essentially mean that they would control the redistricting process that follows the census. Current projections show Minnesota losing one of its congressional seats.

In some ways the Win Minnesota effort will serve as a counterbalance to the ReNew Minnesota campaign being spearheaded by TakeAction Minnesota. While the latter effort is geared around grassroots organizing and ensuring that the eventual DFL nominee embraces a liberal policy platform, the Win Minnesota program will likely rely more on large amounts of cash and paid media.

Jeno Paulucci was born in Aurora, Minnesota in 1918. The son of Italian immigrants, he began his improbable entrepreneurial career by creating the Chun King line of canned Chinese food products at the age of 22 with the help of a $2,500 loan. Three decades later he sold the company to R.J. Reynolds for $66 million. Paulucci also created Jeno’s Pizza Rolls and is widely credited as the inventor of this frozen-food delicacy. He sold that company to Pillsbury for $135 million in 1985. More recently he has developed the Michelina’s and Budget Gourmet lines of frozen foods. By his own estimation, the self-described “peddler from the Iron Range” has started more than 50 companies over the years.

Jeno Paulucci

Unlike many successful entrepreneurs, Paulucci has developed a reputation of being strongly pro-union and has frequently voiced support for raising the minimum wage. “Raise the minimum wage to $7 an hour now, and to hell with the fat cat CEO’s and their millions and billions,” Paulucci said in 2003.

Despite these pro-labor proclivities, he has been a strong financial backer of Republican candidates. So far this election cycle he and his wife, Lois, have made at least $39,800 in political contributions, almost exclusively to GOP causes. The one glaring exception: $4,600 for consumer activist Ralph Nader’s presidential campaign.

Paulucci is the 38th most generous political patron in Minnesota so far this election cycle. The top 100 political givers in the state have contributed $4.1 million to campaigns and causes since the beginning of 2007, 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 the first three installments of this series we looked at the bottom sixty members of the list, those contributing between $23,000 and $39,000. Today we examine places 31 through 40. Donors on this section of the list contributed a total of $418,454 to federal political candidates and causes during the first 18 months of the election cycle. Roughly 60 percent of the money went to Republicans.

These political patrons were almost exclusively partisan in their giving. Only three donors gave money to politicians in both major parties, and in each of those cases more than 90 percent of their contributions still went to one party. Dennis Doyle, for instance, the top executive at the Eden Prairie-based construction firm Welsh Companies, has made $44,300 in political contributions, with all but $3,000 going towards GOP candidates and causes. The Democrats to benefit from Doyle’s largesse: Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Hillary Clinton and Rep. Tim Walz.

There are a handful of names occupying slots 31 through 40 that stand out. Judson and Mary Lee Dayton are among five households bearing that prominent surname to make the list. The Minneapolis couple has given exclusively to Democratic candidates this campaign cycle, including $10,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Kelly Doran

Kelly Doran’s name is also familiar to anyone who’s followed DFL politics in recent years. In 2006 the multimillionaire developer initially campaigned for the U.S. Senate post ultimately won by Amy Klobuchar, but pulled out citing concerns about the effect that his serving in Washington would have on his family. He then changed course and ran for governor, but bailed from that race before the Democratic primary. “As a political novice, it became clear to me that it was going to be very difficult to run as an outside-the-system candidate,” says Doran, reached at the offices of his development firm. “The obstacles were many and the impact on your family is significant. The analysis of that didn’t make sense to me.”

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Doran gave nearly $40,000 to Democratic political candidates and causes through the first 18 months of the election cycle, placing him 40th on the list. This includes maximum $4,600 contributions to Congressional candidates Ashwin Madia and Tim Walz, as well as $10,000 to the state Democratic party.

The Duluth native says he became more engaged in politics following the births of his three children. “One of my main concerns is what we’re doing financially for future generations in terms of our mounting federal debt and the problems we’re going to leave our kids and grandkids,” he says. “We just cannot continue to borrow money and borrow money and borrow money on the pretense that this is acceptable economic behavior.”

Most of the other prominent businessmen on this portion of the list line up on the GOP side of the aisle.

David Frauenshuh is a St. Paul native and longtime ally of Sen. Norm Coleman. He is best known for the controversial Lawson Commons development in downtown St. Paul. In 1997, during Coleman’s tenure as mayor, the city began building the $110 million office tower to lure Lawson Software from Minneapolis. Frauenshuh Companies was named the exclusive developer. In 2000 Frauenshuh purchased the building from the city, with no competing bids, for $54.7 million. Five years later the company turned around and sold the office tower for $84.5 million to a Dallas-based developer, pocketing a nifty, taxpayer-subsidized $30 million profit.

Frauenshuh has long been a substantial financial backer of GOP politicians. He raised more than $1 million for George W. Bush’s re-election campaign in 2004 and hosted a fundraiser for the president at his Edina home. This election cycle he and his wife, Sandra, have contributed at least $43,600 to Republican candidates and causes, including more than $15,000 to the state party.

Another notorious business figure on the list is John Grundhofer, former chairman of U.S. Bancorp, who clocks in at 37th place. Grundhofer arrived in the Twin Cities in 1990 to helm what was then known as First Bank System. During his first year on the job he was kidnapped from a downtown Minneapolis parking lot. The bank executive was bound, stuffed in a sleeping bag and left in a remote wooded area in Wisconsin. Grundhofer escaped two hours later and ran to a nearby farm for help. A ransom was demanded but never paid. No one was ever charged in the kidnapping. “I have no idea why this took place this morning,” he told reporters at the time. “We’re very grateful to the good Lord for me being here.”

The turbulent beginning to Grundhofer’s tenure at First Bank System was only a portent of things to come. He mercilessly cut costs at the struggling company, including a 20 percent reduction in personnel, earning plaudits from Wall Street and the sobriquet “Jack the Ripper” back home. “I’m not an evil man,” he insisted to the Star Tribune’s Neal St. Anthony in 1993. “I like people.”

In 2000, after U.S. Bancorp had lost its luster with Wall Street, Grundhofer engineered a $19 billion sale to Firstar Corp., a Milwaukee-based bank run by his brother Jerry. Jack the Ripper retired in 2002, but he didn’t walk away empty-handed: He’s guaranteed a $2.9 million annual salary for the rest of his life.

Grundhofer has contributed at least $40,500 to Republican candidates and causes so far this election cycle, including $10,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and $10,000 to Sen. Coleman’s Northstar Leadership PAC. Other beneficiaries of his contributions: South Dakota Sen. John Thune and Indiana Rep. Dan Burton.

Here’s the complete list of donors occupying slots 31 through 40:

31. Dennis Doyle, Eden Prairie, Welsh Companies, $44,300

32. Daniel and Christine Rice, Lake Elmo, Strategic Communications, $44,200

33. David and Sandra Frauenshuh, Minneapolis, Frauenshuh Companies, $43,600

34. Judson and Mary Lee Dayton, Minneapolis, venture capitalist, $43,290

35. Qian, Thomas and Cynthia Redmond, Edina, retired, $41,900

36. Barbara Forster, Minneapolis, retired, $41,750

37. John Grundhofer, Minneapolis, retired, $40,500

38. Jeno and Lois Paulucci, Sanford, FL, Paulucci International, $39,800

39. Michael David and Barbara Goldner, Minneapolis, retired, $39,714

40. Kelly Doran, Bloomington, Doran Companies, $39,400

Previously in The Crunch:

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 41 to 50
Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 51 to 75
Minnesota’s Top 100 political givers: 76 to 100