Minnesota Independent

Pawlenty’s new campaign manager ran ads against Dayton, drove drunk

By Andy Birkey | 04.12.11 | 2:05 pm

Potential presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty scored a coup yesterday when he announced that he has signed on Nick Ayers to be his campaign manager. Ayers, a deeply religious young man, is the former head of the Republican Governors Association, a group that funneled money into Minnesota’s Future to run negative ads against Mark Dayton during the 2010 gubernatorial election. It’s also Pawlenty second hire who has a record of drunk driving.

Campaign Finance Board rules in favor of RGA and Minnesota’s Future

By Patrick Caldwell | 12.10.10 | 12:04 pm

Minnesota’s Campaign Finance Board issued their finding Thursday for Common Cause’s complaint against Minnesota’s Future and the Republican Governors Association (RGA). The Board’s report — published online Friday afternoon — essentially goes with the principal of ‘no harm, no foul,’ noting that Minnesota’s Future and the RGA may not have strictly complied with Minnesota law initially but that the offense did not merit any fine.

Minnesota’s Future changed pattern after complaint, according to finance report

By Patrick Caldwell | 11.01.10 | 8:30 am

Reports filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board this week indicate that independent expenditure group Minnesota’s Future has shifted its behavior after a complaint was filed with the board last month by the Minnesota chapter of Common Cause. That complaint alleged that Minnesota’s Future had failed to detail the full extent of donor information required by law in their last finance report.

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

By Patrick Caldwell | 10.26.10 | 12:38 pm

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.

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.

Complaint alleges GOP fund illegally funneled campaign money

By Andy Birkey | 09.30.10 | 2:09 pm

A government watchdog group said in a complaint filed with the campaign finance board Thursday that a trio of Republican groups conspired to conceal important campaign finance information. Common Cause Minnesota said the “scheme” was developed to avoid aspects of Minnesota’s campaign finance disclosure laws.

Uncowed by Target backlash, 3M jumps into political donation game

By Patrick Caldwell | 09.27.10 | 6:00 am

Target’s gift of $150,000 to MN Forward, a Republican-run independent expenditure group that backs Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, has sparked outrage among progressives. The resulting boycotts, protests and bad press Target has endured may have prevented some companies from making such political contributions. But one Minnesota corporation is uncowed in giving to the group. According to new campaign disclosures, 3M has given $100,000 to MN Forward, significant public backlash has yet to materialize.

T-Paw in 2012?

By Paul Demko | 11.10.08 | 12:23 pm

Gov. Tim Pawlenty will have three opportunities to address this week’s gathering of the Republican Governor’s Association in Miami. According to a schedule posted by Marc Ambinder, he’ll be the featured speaker during a luncheon gathering on Wednesday.…