The accusation has flown from either side of this yr’s heated Minneapolis City Council races: The cash backing our rivals just isn’t really from this city.
All of Mpls, the center-left political motion committee that backs Mayor Jacob Frey, said in a fundraising email that “outside agitators” were funding their opponents.
Those opponents? Minneapolis for the Many, a PAC linked with several local left-wing groups, including the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapter. In a fundraising email of its own, the group retorted that All of Mpls’ backers actually lived within the suburbs.
“We don’t need corporate developers in Wayzata telling us what’s best for our neighborhoods,” the e-mail read.
Yet money and help from outside Minneapolis are flowing to either side, a MinnPost evaluation of campaign finance data shows.
- Minneapolis for the Many reported raising just below $92,000 through mid-September this yr, around one-quarter of which could be tied on to a Minneapolis resident or to a corporation headquartered in town.
- The most important single donor to Minneapolis for the Many was a Massachusetts-based PAC that raises money nationally to support local candidates and causes on the left. A representative for that group, Movement Voter PAC Minnesota, said the group is definitely bundling contributions from tons of of donors who do live in Minneapolis and Minnesota. Nevertheless, the group hasn’t filed a campaign finance report this yr, so it’s not clear what quantity of its donors are local. (That’s why there’s a special color within the pie chart above.)
- All of Mpls raised greater than $443,000, somewhat greater than half of which got here from Minneapolis residents or Minneapolis-based organizations.
- All of Mpls’ largest individual contributor was a Wayzata resident: Major DFL donor Vance Opperman gave $50,000. All of Mpls campaign manager Leili Fatehi drew a distinction between nationally-headquartered groups and suburban-dwelling donors who’ve ties to town: “They’re a part of the Minneapolis civic ecosystem.”
- Candidates themselves have raised greater than $1.2 million, and not less than half of that total got here from Minneapolis – though around one-fifth of the contributions didn’t include the donors’ address.
Why this matters
All this money is funding ads and voter outreach efforts in Minneapolis’ most hotly-contested City Council races. The spending matters because each camps have contrasting policy visions on issues as varied as unhoused encampment policies, major street projects, and even whether to enact a city-run sidewalk shoveling program. The makeup of the brand new council will even determine the extent of collaboration – or pushback – Frey can expect from town’s legislative body.
“This November, it’s a stark selection,” wrote Minneapolis for the Many spokesperson Chelsea McFarren in a press release to MinnPost. “Elect a council majority with the courage to guide with compassion and supply the essential city services we deserve, or keep on with business as usual with Frey and his allies.”
Does it matter that two crucial PACs on this yr’s races are accepting large sums from the suburbs or out of state; especially when each have made a problem out of their opponents doing so?
“I believe I’d ask your query somewhat in a different way,” wrote Javier Morillo, senior state strategy director for Movement Voter PAC Minnesota, in an email. “When taking a look at those of us investing in Minneapolis, I’d ask, what’s it folks are investing in? Our donors support groups working to construct a vibrant multiracial democracy.”
Fatehi argued All of Mpls backs candidates with a “pragmatic” approach to issues starting from public safety to rent control. She contended out-of-state donors’ interest in town elections is predominantly ideological.
“Minneapolis and the Twin Cities have been identified by groups who favor socialist policies as a very good political laboratory for testing these policies, and infrequently testing them to see what their effect is on electoral outcomes,” Fatehi said.
From where does Minneapolis for the Many’s money come?
Minneapolis for the Many received $16,795 in contributions from individuals, all of whom live in town. The group also received a $5,000 contribution from the Twin Cities DSA Political Fund and $10,000 from the American Federation of Teachers – the Washington, D.C.-based parent union for the local chapter that represents Minneapolis school district teachers.
Nevertheless, when Movement Voter PAC Minnesota made its $40,000 contribution on Sept. 1, Minneapolis for the Many’s fundraising total for the yr more-than doubled immediately.
“Movement Voter PAC is basically a one-stop shop for donors who want to take a position in local organizations,” explained Morillo. “We raise money from progressive donors – big and small – from across the country.”
While Movement Voter PAC hopes to usher in a “progressive era” in communities across the U.S., Morillo said, “We imagine that investing in local organizing is definitely the fastest path to achieving this vision.” He his PAC's partnership with groups like Faith in Minnesota – the political arm of the St. Paul-based interfaith organizing powerhouse ISAIAH.
Last yr, Movement Voter PAC Minnesota reported greater than $412,000 in contributions, and all but $2,300 of that 2022 total got here from outside of Minnesota.
This yr, Movement Voter PAC Minnesota hasn’t contributed to candidates or made an “independent expenditure” to influence a race – for instance, ran an ad in a City Council race; or paid for canvassers to knock on doors on a candidates’ behalf. For this reason, the PAC wouldn’t be required to file a mid-year campaign finance report that will show where its donors lived, in keeping with Jeff Sigurdson, the manager director of the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.
Morillo said the PAC counts “over 800 (donors) in Minnesota and over 400 in Minneapolis alone.” Nevertheless, Fatehi said that her rivals haven’t “shown the receipts” for these donations.
“Even when you have got folks in Minneapolis which are bundling money with a national organization that then redistributes it, it's still an illustration that there's this national intermediary ultimately representing a broader political ideology than simply the interests of the residents of Minneapolis,” Fatehi said.
From where does All of Mpls’ money come?
All of Mpls reported $211,000 from individual donors who live in Minneapolis.
The Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce also passed along the cash left over (about $15,000) from a now-shuttered political committee formed in 2021 to assist defeat a ballot query that will’ve replaced the police department, and to assist enact the “strong mayor” system.
Minneapolis-based labor unions gave a complete of $6,000 to All of Mpls. The group also received $50,000 from the North Central States Carpenters PAC and $15,000 from the Sheet Metal Employees PAC – two unions with headquarters outside town limits.
“The address shows up as being outside of Minneapolis, but their members live and work in Minneapolis,” Fatehi contended.
Greater than 98% of the group’s donations come from Minnesota, and other than the Minneapolis contributions, greater than 46% of the group’s contributions come from either St. Paul or suburbs of the Twin Cities.
“These are folks who're members of community work that happens in Minneapolis or they own businesses in Minneapolis,” Fatehi said.
All of Mpls endorsed incumbents Michael Rainville (Ward 3), LaTrisha Vetaw (Ward 4), Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8), Emily Koski (Ward 11) and Linea Palmisano (Ward 13) in addition to two candidates for open seats: Scott Graham (Ward 7) and Luther Ranheim (Ward 12).
Within the three contests that All of Mpls considers “priority races” – Wards 7, 8 and 12 – the group has launched independent expenditures on behalf of its favored candidates: $17,333 each to support Graham, Jenkins and Ranheim. Filings show this money is paying for digital ads and “grassroots strategy and engagement,” in addition to mailers supporting these candidates.
Allied groups
Minneapolis for the Many has endorsed City Council incumbents Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5) and Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10), and candidates Katie Cashman (Ward 7), Soren Stevenson (Ward 8) and Aurin Chowdhury (Ward 12).
Minneapolis for the Many had not made any independent expenditures on any of those candidates’ races as of Sept. 19, the cutoff date for essentially the most recent campaign finance report. (Campaign mail from the group that’s now featured in our political mail tracker began arriving after Sept. 19.)
Nevertheless, other groups also spent to assist Minneapolis for the Many’s slate of candidates.
The TakeAction Political Fund, which frequently advocates on behalf of DFL candidates across Minnesota and left-wing causes in various local races, threw greater than $34,000 into Minneapolis City Council races. Most of that cash paid canvassers to contact voters and urge their support of Ellison in Ward 5 and Stevenson in Ward 8. The group also spent just a few hundred dollars on outreach in Ward 12 on Chowdhury’s behalf.
The one contributor to the TakeAction Political Fund is the group’s parent organization, which relies in St. Paul.
St. Paul-based Faith in Minnesota also contributed $20,000 to Minneapolis for the Many, and spent around $2,000 on voter outreach for Cashman in Ward 7, in addition to Stevenson and Chowdury.
All of Mpls did a lot of the heavy lifting to support the candidates on its slate. Nevertheless, one other group, the Minneapolis Downtown Council PAC, spent a complete of $2,600 contributing to the campaigns of Ranheim, Koski, Vetaw, Graham, Jenkins, Rainville and Palmisano.
What in regards to the candidates themselves?
Most contributions to City Council candidates’ campaigns between January 2022 and August 2023 got here from throughout the city of Minneapolis, a MinnPost evaluation of dozens of city campaign finance records shows.
Out of the $1.2 million in contributions that candidates in all 13 wards reported, not less than $639,000 got here from Minneapolis.
In point of fact, the full of Minneapolis-based donations to candidates is probably going higher. Candidates don’t report the addresses of donors who make small money contributions, and so they collectively received greater than $216,000-worth of those. As well as, donors who withheld their addresses for security reasons gave greater than $18,000.
Nevertheless, not less than $169,000 in contributions originated in state but outside Minneapolis or St. Paul, and one other $65,000 got here from out-of-state.