Then-Anoka County Elections Manager Rachel Smith during the recount. Photo: MnIndy

Five Minnesota television stations are asking to see all the uncounted absentee ballots in the Norm Coleman-Al Franken contest for U.S. Senate. Four do news, while the fifth shows re-runs (with a new news show weeks off); all are owned by Coleman backer Stanley Hubbard. 

About 10,000 ballots were rejected and not counted for one reason or another during the statewide hand recount and election contest trial.

The stations’ request (pdf) also covers data about ballots that either side ejected from the recount under controversial rules from the Minnesota Supreme Court, and envelopes that show why ballots they contained were rejected.  

The request, filed under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA) by Hubbard Broadcasting TV stations KSTP, KSTC, WDIO, KSAX and KAAL, comes as an order is expected at any time in Coleman’s appeal to the state Supreme Court of his election-contest defeat. 

It also comes only days after rightwing blogger Michael Brodkorb filed similar requests with several cities and counties. Brodkorb is soon to drop his blogging to assume the position of deputy chairman with the Republican Party of Minnesota.

It’s unclear what one of the stations, KSTC-TV (”Channel 45″), would do with the data requested: The station mainly shows syndicated entertainment and seems to have nothing to do with news or public affairs. UPDATE: KSTC starts a 9 p.m. newscast on July 13. 

Hubbard Broadcasting owner Stanley Hubbard is a major contributor to the Republican Party and its candidates, including Coleman. He used the airwaves for which he holds a license to editorialize in favor of law enforcement agencies’ conduct during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, to which he also gave money. And indications are he lent his 125-foot yacht for a “Coleman for Senate Donor Appreciation Cruise.”

KAAL-TV offered this explanation of the request’s purpose:

We believe this information will help state officials, the news media, and the public determine how election officials came to their decisions and whether future changes in state election laws need to made.

That statement, and the timing of the request — months after partisan and media MGDPA requests in the thick of the recount’s ballot hunt — suggests a post-mortem effort akin to a news media review after the aborted recount of Florida votes in the 2000 presidential election.

The request assures local officials to whom it is addressed that the stations would not be able to identify voters by their separate examinations of ballots and envelopes. (One exception to that, not mentioned in the letter: ballots rejected because they contain identifying marks by the voter.)

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.

Stanley Hubbard

The owners of Hubbard Broadcasting, which includes KSTP radio (AM-1500) and TV (Channel 5), are not newcomers to the political game. Since 1990 Stanley has made 468 political contributions totaling more than $1 million to federal campaigns across the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Meanwhile, Karen has distributed 204 donations totaling more than a quarter of a million dollars.

Critics have sometimes accused Hubbard Broadcasting of letting the owners’ political beliefs interfere with its journalism. Most recently the company’s flagship TV station aired a rare editorial praising the behavior of police officers during the Republican National Convention, despite more than 800 arrests and accusations of police misconduct. Left unmentioned was the fact that Hubbard Broadcasting was a corporate sponsor of the event and that Stanley Hubbard served on the RNC Host Committee’s executive board.

In 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch pilloried the company for its coverage of a gaffe by running mate Judi Dutcher regarding ethanol fuel E85. “Stan Hubbard is a political hack and he has a news media station that is full of political hacks,” Hatch said at the time. “What they did is they took her out of context.”

The top 100 givers in the state have made $4.1 million in federal political contributions 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 contributed $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 six installments of this series we looked at the bottom 90 members of the list, those contributing between $23,000 and $67,000. Today we hit the top 10. Donors on this section of the list contributed a total of $1,077,859 to federal political candidates and causes during the first 18 months of this election cycle. Democrats dominated this portion of the list, collecting nearly $700,000 from the top 10 donors.

Right behind the Hubbards on the list is another influential media figure, John Cowles Jr. A native of Des Moines, Cowles came to Minneapolis in 1938 after his family purchased the Minneapolis Star newspaper. He eventually rose to become CEO of Cowles Media Co. and publisher of its flagship newspaper, the Star Tribune. In 1998 the company was sold to the McClatchy Co., and since then Cowles has been a prominent philanthropist and major Democratic contributor. So far this election cycle, Cowles and his wife, Sage, have given $122,000 to campaigns and causes.

Mark Dayton

Not surprisingly, some of the other biggest names in Democratic political circles crop up at the top of the fundraising pyramid. Former Sen. Mark Dayton hits fourth place on the list, contributing at least $105,900 to Democratic campaigns and causes through the first 18 months of this election cycle. Roughly half that money ($52,000) went to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Although Dayton walked away from the Senate in 2006 after just one term, he is often rumored to be mulling a run for governor in 2010. Spreading around lots of cash to Democratic candidates will undoubtedly endear him to the party faithful.

Not far behind Dayton is his ex-wife, Alida Messinger. The Rockefeller heir, whose brother is Sen. Jay Rockefeller, has given at least $95,900 to Democratic efforts since the beginning of 2007. Messinger, who is invariably referred to as secretive in media reports, has long been one of the most prolific Democratic donors in the country.

A 2003 study by the Center for Public Integrity found that she’d given $2.3 million to so-called 527 groups during a two-year period, ranking her behind only Jane Fonda among the country’s most generous donors to such organizations. She hasn’t stopped writing checks since. An April study by the Campaign Finance Institute determined that she had contributed $433,000 to 527 groups in the first 13 months of this campaign cycle, making her the 11th largest donor to the advocacy organizations nationwide. She also has written a $1 million check this year to bolster support for a ballot referendum in Minnesota that would raise the sales tax to provide funding for the outdoors and arts.

Jim Deal is a relative newcomer to the world of big-time Democratic donors. The retired insurance executive first made a splash in 2006 when he donated $100,000 to Minnesotans for Change, an organization set up to thwart Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s re-election plans. “Minnesota’s on a disastrous collision course,” Deal told the Star Tribune at the time. “Obviously, I’m a liberal.”

That outlay of cash may have been made in vain, but it hasn’t stopped Deal from continuing to be one of the DFL Party’s biggest backers. Since the beginning of 2007, Deal and his wife, Pamela, have contributed $119,560 exclusively to Democrats, making them the third most generous household in the state.

On the Republican side of the ledger are a couple of prominent local business executives. George Anderson is vice president of operations at Roseville-based Crown Iron Works. He and his wife, Barbara, have contributed $94,400 to political campaigns since the beginning of 2007, with all but $4,400 of that money going toward Republicans. George Anderson also made a $10,000 contribution in 2006 toward a campaign to outlaw gay marriage. “I don’t have anything against anyone personally,” Anderson told Minnesota Public Radio at the time. “But I think it’s important to keep that definition straightforward, and not muddle it up.”

Brad Anderson

Brad Anderson has also been a reliable source of cash for GOP candidates. The Best Buy CEO, who got his start as a sales clerk at stereo store Sound of Music, took in compensation of $49.3 million last year. Roughly $75,000 of that money ended up funding Republican campaigns. Among his contributions: $10,000 for the Republican Party of Minnesota and $5,000 for Sen. Norm Coleman’s Northstar Leadership PAC.

Gerard and Cleo Cafesjian are the rarest of big-bucks political donors: they give generously to both parties. The couple have contributed a total of $102,700 this election cycle, split between Democrats and Republicans. Staunch conservatives like Rep. Michele Bachmann ($5,500) have enjoyed their support, as have liberal politicians like Rep. Betty McCollum ($3,000). Gerard Cafesjian is a prominent Armenian-American businessman who made his fortune as an executive at West Publishing Co. The couple is best known for spending $1.2 million to restore the Como Park carousel.

Here’s the complete list of donors occupying slots 1 through 10:

1. Stanley and Karen Hubbard, Lakeland, Hubbard Broadcasting, $163,500

2. John and Sage Cowles, Minneapolis, retired, $122,000

3. Pamela and James Deal, Anoka, NAU Companies, $119,560

4. Mark Dayton, Minneapolis, retired, $105,900

5. Cleo and Gerald Cafesjian, Naples, retired, $102,700

6. Joseph and Christina Sriver, Minneapolis, designer, $100,050

7. John and Sheila Morgan, Minneapolis, Winmark Corp., $96,850

8. Alida Messinger, Minneapolis, philanthropist, $95,900

9. George and Barbara Anderson, Champlin, Crown Iron Works, $94,400

10. Bradbury and Janet Anderson, Minneapolis, Best Buy, $76,999

Previously in The Crunch:

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 11 to 20

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 21 to 30

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 31 to 40

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

“It is rare when KSTP decides to take an editorial position,” began anchor Jessica Miles, but that’s exactly what the station did today in praising law enforcement for its job in policing the Republican National Convention and related protests. Undisclosed is that the opinion, attributed to the station’s owner, comes from one Stanley Hubbard, the state’s biggest Republican donor and a personal contributor to the Republican convention.

According to Miles, KSTP staffers who witnessed police working the RNC said they were “calm and professional and measured when faced with protesters”; she added that that they were “well trained and prepared to do a tough job.” The editorial concludes:

So it is the opinion of the owners of KSTP that we owe a debt of gratitude to all the police officers on duty during the Republican National Convention.

Congratulations and thank you to the men and women in uniform.

Like anchor Cyndy Brucato, past communications director for Republicans Gov. Arne Carlson and Sen. Norm Coleman, Hubbard has deep ties to the GOP. How deep? With his wife Karen, he has donated $163,500 to candidates and causes this election cycle alone — more than any other Minnesotan — with the vast majority of it, $130,200, going to Republicans. Plus he kicked in “fundraising talents” and “an undisclosed amount of money” for the Republican National Convention, according to the Pioneer Press. On top of that, he lent the use of his 125-foot yacht during the RNC.

“I hope they make good use of it,” he told the paper, which added that it came with ground rules: “No smoking and no unfriendly shoes.”

The “good use” was apparently an invitation-only soiree dubbed the “Coleman for Senate Donor Appreciation Cruise.”

It’s unclear if KSTP journalists were detained or arrested at the RNC, but prior to the festivities, police reportedly shoved a KSTP photographer who was trying to shoot a sit-in by protesters who’d planned a conention march.

Update: David Brauer at MinnPost covers this too, reporting that no KSTP journalists were detained by police during the RNC and that Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., was a sponsor of the RNC Host Committee.