In the News
TakeAction, progressive groups mimic conservatives, build infrastructure
When Sen. Paul Wellstone died 17 years ago this month, many of the up-and-coming progressive politicos coming into the arena were in elementary school.
But he’d probably admire what they’re up to.
After the 2016 election, progressive groups such as TakeAction, Faith in Minnesota and more familiar labor and environmental groups set up a training academy for activists and potential candidates called “Movement Political Leadership Program.”
This year they’ve trained 25 activists, including state Rep. Hunter Cantrell, DFL-Savage, and Chauntyll Allen, a candidate for the St. Paul school board.
What’s different is that they’re focused as much on governance as they are on winning elections, according to a memo from TakeAction spokeswoman Kenza Hadj-Moussa.
“This is not about winning elections. It’s about winning the day,” she said.
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The 2020 Campaign Event Where ‘Everyday Iowans’ Asked the Questions
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While the Iowa People’s Presidential Forum is intended to result in an endorsement from CCI Action, many attendees stressed that they were even more focused on building interconnected movements. Roughly 500 of the attendees were members of partner organizations in eight nearby states, including People’s Lobby, TakeAction Minnesota, and Hoosier Action. More than one speaker declared something to the effect of “No president can save us.”
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St. Paul’s most competitive council race is focused on crime, development — and bringing a new approach to city hall
Once upon a time on St. Paul’s East Side, an abandoned railroad line surrounded by junkyards and mounds of asphalt covered what is now a busy commercial corridor, Phalen Boulevard. Few businesses could keep their doors open east of Hwy. 61 and most residents lived in single-family homes.
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One of those who’ve been campaigning for months is Nelsie Yang, a second-generation Hmong-American who grew up in North Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park before her parents moved to Frogtown. At Minnesota State University, Mankato, Yang began dabbling in politics; on breaks from school, she volunteered for current Ward 1 St. Paul Council Member Dai Thao, who represents Frogtown and Summit-University, and later worked on campaigns for DFL state and congressional candidates. She also rallied support for St. Paul’s minimum wage increase and criminal justice reform with TakeAction Minnesota, and chairs an advocacy nonprofit called Hmong Americans for Justice.
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Minnesota progressives getting impatient, might challenge incumbents
Kenza Hadj-Moussa, a spokeswoman for the progressive group TakeAction Minnesota, told me last week that no decisions have been made about recruiting challengers to take on veteran DFL lawmakers in the 2020 election, especially in the Senate.
Still, she offered a less-than-subtle hint: “If I were an incumbent, I would be looking out for progressive challengers,” she said.
None of the longstanding metro DFL lawmakers on the potential target list stray far from progressive orthodoxy. But that’s not the point.
“We’re close to taking back the [state] Senate, but if the Senate is not going to be bold in its approach, then we’re not making much progress,” she said.
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Rep. Omar introduces the Zero Waste Act
July 25, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota introduced the Zero Waste Act to Congress. The bill would create a federal grant program to help local cities invest in zero waste initiatives. These funds could go toward recycling infrastructure or the creation of partnerships with local businesses aimed at reducing waste in their operations, according to a news release from Omar’s office.
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The city of Minneapolis, Eureka Recycling of Minneapolis, Zero Waste Washington, Texas Campaign for the Environment & TCE Fund, U.S. Composting Council, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Climate Generation, Surfrider Foundation, TakeAction Minnesota and Minnesota Composting Council have endorsed the bill.
Trump Says Minnesota Can’t Stand Ilhan Omar. His Attacks Have Made Her More Popular Than Ever Back Home.
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Elianne Farhat, the executive director of a statewide racial equity organizing group called Take Action Minnesota, said she was “very heartened” by the widespread condemnation across the state of Trump’s comments about Omar. But she hoped, she said, that the support would extend beyond condemning the president in moments of explicit racism.
“Moments like the one we just went through make it clear that people are operating in a racist, xenophobic way,” she said. “So it’s important, also, when it is less clear, to take the time to see the racism operating, and to say that is wrong.”
“Donald Trump and the people around him are actively using all different contours — identities, race, immigrant status, gender, religion — to divide us, and we have to be clear that is happening,” Farhat said. “We all need to get clearer faster when we’re getting played. Those are the hardest moments.”
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#ISTANDWITHILHAN: AFTER TRUMP RALLY, CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR’S SUPPORTERS PLAN TO WELCOME HER HOME
fter nearly a week of constant criticism from President Donald Trump and his supporters, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s supporters planned to welcome her home to Minnesota.
Thursday’s event was set to take place at the baggage claim area of Terminal One at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, just in time for Omar’s expected arrival. Almost 300 people responded on Facebook that they would attend and an additional 2,200 said they were interested.
Hosted by several organizations, including WOW Network, TakeAction Minnesota and Out-front Minnesota, the event page encouraged local supporters to welcome Omar home after Trump’s controversial “go back” tweet and the ensuing political storm.
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Omar calls Trump ‘fascist’ after his supporters chant ‘send her back’
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In her Minneapolis district, a group of supporters led the welcome rally for Omar at the airport. Omar was scheduled to attend a local Medicare town hall later in the evening.
“It (the chant) made me feel sick in my stomach,” said Kenza Hadj-Moussa, a spokeswoman for the group TakeAction Minnesota, who attended the rally. “This is bigger than just the president attacking our congresswoman. This is about all of us as Minnesotans, the values that we share, and direction that we can go in our country.”
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Rep. Ilhan Omar greeted with new chant upon arrival in Minnesota: ‘Welcome home Ilhan’
After Trump supporters shouted “send her back” at a rally in North Carolina, Rep. Ilhan Omar was met with a new chant upon her arrival in Minnesota: “Welcome home Ilhan.”
The Democratic congresswoman returned to the Twin Cities on Thursday evening, as crowds of supporters gathered at baggage claim to welcome her home. Nearly 400 members of Minnesota’s 5th congressional district expressed they were going to the event, per a Facebook page hosted by local community groups, but it’s unclear how many actually attended
“Donald Trump told Ilhan Omar to ‘Go Back Home’ well she lands in Minnesota at 5pm. So let’s welcome her back to her home Minnesota’s 5th congressional district,” the event’s description reads.
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State lawmakers debate high cost of medication
Claire Henn of St. Paul said the drug she relied on for her rheumatoid arthritis jumped from $60 per treatment to $1,400 per treatment. She went without it for three years until a charity helped pay for the drug.
During a state Capitol news conference, Henn said something must be done.
“I’m a senior on a low income with a small pension. There’s no way I can pay $1,400 a month for treatment,” she said.
McKenzie Shappell, also of St. Paul, shared similar concerns. Shappell, 25, is about to lose health care coverage under his parents’ insurance. The pills he needs cost $1,700 for a month’s supply.
“As the price of drugs in our state continues to spiral out of control and out of reach for too many of us, it is absolutely imperative that we pass legislation that cements control of prescription drug costs solely with those whose health and healing depends on them and removes it forever from the hands of those who profit from them,” said Shappell.
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Governor’s budget first step to fixing state health care
The governor’s budget released on Tuesday has the progress and vision Minnesotans in St. Cloud deserve.
When I was an infant, I was diagnosed with common variable immune deficiency. I was put on TEFRA, Medical Assistance for children with disabilities. And when I turned 19, I was eligible for general Medical Assistance. The care was lifesaving for me as an infant, and as I got older, it has helped me afford treatment for fibromyalgia, asthma and my mental health. I would struggle to afford treatment otherwise.
The health care provider tax funds the Health Care Access Fund, which in the past has funded MinnesotaCare and currently funds Medical Assistance and other health services. If the health care provider tax is repealed, one million Minnesotans could be at risk of losing their health insurance; Minnesotans like me, who rely on state-funded health care to stay alive.
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Debate reopens over future of health care in Minnesota
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An actuarial analysis shows that nearly 1,865 individual claims were covered by the program in the first nine months of last year at a total cost of $84 million.
Dahms said the final 2018 tally could reach as high as $150 million once all affected claims are tallied.
Some questioned whether the cost is worth it.
“For the amount of relief that we’re giving insurance companies, are we getting enough relief for Minnesotans?” asked Amanda Otero, a health care organizer with the group TakeAction Minnesota. “The premise behind this bill is we can’t afford not to do this. We’re wondering if we can afford to do this.”
TakeAction is a grassroots group that has become a force on the political left. The Minnesota Nurses Association has also objected to the bill on the grounds that it’s a short-term fix to a health cost problem that demands bigger solutions.
KARE 11 Investigates: Some wealthy developers dodge taxes for years
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KARE 11 attempted to contact Wallace and the Ramsey and Chisago County developers about their unpaid taxes. They either declined comment or did not return emails and telephone calls.
Elianne Farhat, executive director of TakeAction Minnesota, a statewide advocacy group, reviewed the KARE 11 findings at our request.
“What jumped out at me was the way rich developers were using our tax system as a public loans program,” she said.
She described the practice as “deeply disturbing” and called for changes to close such property tax loopholes.
“I mean it hurts all of us,” she said. “It hurts people who use our public schools, it hurts people who use our transit, it hurts people who use our parks and our roads. It hurts all of us and it’s wrong.”
Farhat was talking about developers such as Wallace, whose company hoped to transform a 40-acre tract of cornfield it purchased in 2004 into Commerce Hill, part of a sprawling retail and office center just south of Interstate 94 in Woodbury.
Minnesota has plenty of jobs, but health insurance? No
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Some of the fastest growing sectors of the Minnesota economy are hospitality and retail, which traditionally offer lower wage part-time jobs that do not offer health insurance benefits.
Cierra Brown, 19, has worked at Sam’s Club for five months and recently got promoted to a full-time position that she hopes will make her eligible for the company health plan. She’s worked for other retailers, including Target and Cub Foods, that did not offer her benefits. For two years she has been enrolled in MinnesotaCare, a companion program to Medicaid that has slightly higher income limits.
Single adults like Brown must make less than $24,280 to qualify.
“We make people feel ashamed that they are on some kind of assistance,” she said. “But they are not paying enough on these jobs for people to afford private insurance. I don’t feel ashamed, because I know it helps me.”
Even though many uninsured Americans are young and healthy, research has shown that having coverage increases the chance that people will get regular medical care and preventive services.
“Health insurance is so important because there are so many [people] that go untreated,” said Brown, who relies on the insurance for medications and mental health therapy visits.
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Readers Write: Homelessness, MinnesotaCare buy in, gas tax, border wall
MINNESOTACARE BUY-IN DEBATE
Insurers, experts are data points. Real people are a critical mass.
The MinnesotaCare buy-in shouldn’t be a debate between insurance companies and legislators (“A start, not the end, to ‘buy-in’ debate,” editorial, Dec. 9). It should be a conversation about how can we ensure that all Minnesotans have the care they need in order to live full, healthy lives.
I’m sitting here in my apartment, recovering from surgery. I am doing remarkably well, because I have great insurance. I receive Medicaid, and so this lifesaving surgery was free to me. Before this surgery, performing everyday activities made me feel exhausted and ill. Now I’m getting my life back.
Earlier this year, I had some cancerous tissue removed from my body. I feel very lucky to live here in Minnesota, which bought into Medicaid expansion. I am able to live a healthy albeit difficult life because of the help I get from the government.
I also suffer from anxiety and depression that have made being fully employed very difficult for my adult life. I now receive Social Security Disability Insurance since being let go from my last job in 2013. I fought to stay employed. Then I fought to qualify for SSDI. And I feel so grateful to get such quality health care. Each and every one of us deserves the same care that I get.
I’m proud to live in Minnesota because we are a state that takes cares of each other. MinnesotaCare buy-in fits into our larger health care system. Our elected officials need to listen first and foremost to Minnesotans who rely on public health care, and continue being a state that puts people first.
Rachel Zemmer, St. Paul
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First Step Act draws mixed reviews among Minnesota justice observers
A longtime battle in Minnesota to overhaul criminal sentencing laws is getting a new boost now that President Donald Trump and a broad coalition of congressional members are looking to make significant changes to the nation’s justice system.
The First Step Act would revamp much-criticized federal policies of the 1980s and ’90s that ballooned the nation’s prison population while locking up black offenders at disproportionately higher rates than white offenders. The proposal also would make it easier for former inmates to get the skills and jobs they need to stay out of prison.
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Elianne Farhat, executive director of TakeAction Minnesota, said she was “deeply concerned” by certain provisions in the federal bill, including the continued use of risk-assessment algorithms to sentence offenders. Some studies have suggested those algorithms are racially biased, she said. Farhat said she is also concerned the measure drops a provision to make repeal of the federal “three strikes” rule retroactive. The law significantly increases prison sentences for those convicted of a third felony offense, often guaranteeing a life sentence.
“We have to make sure that the thing that we are passing doesn’t make things worse, and continues to perpetuate some of the worst race and class disparities in sentencing,” Farhat said. “This just is not a bill that we have confidence will make the changes we need at the federal level or trickle down in a meaningful or just way to states.”
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The 2018 Election: A Blue Wave With a Harsh Red Undertow
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Progress at the state and local level got less attention in early returns, but this is where the growing thrust of progressive energy is its strongest. Take Action Minnesota not only helped elect Ilhan Omar to the House and Keith Ellison as the state’s attorney general, it also helped Angela Conley become the first African American elected to the Board of Supervisors in Hennepin Country, a municipality with a budget of $2.4 billion. Door-to-door organizing by progressives helped break the GOP supermajority in North Carolina Senate and House. Democrats flipped the Colorado and Maine Senates, the New York Senate, and the New Hampshire Senate and House. Democrats, fueled by the energy of grassroots organizing, now are in full control in New York, Illinois, Colorado, Maine, and New Mexico. These “laboratories of democracy” can now begin to forward progressive alternatives on everything from money in politics to climate change.
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Harassment allegations against ex-Nolan staffer surface in governor’s race
Several liberal groups are calling on U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, to leave the governor’s race after reports of sexual harassment allegations about an ex-staffer in his office.
The allegations, reported in MinnPost on Thursday, center around former staffer Jim Swiderski, who several women said grabbed and harassed them in Nolan’s office and was allowed to leave in 2015 instead of face disciplinary actions. In 2016, Swiderski was briefly hired back as a contractor on Nolan’s re-election bid.
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TakeAction Minnesota, which is actively supporting Murphy’s campaign for governor, held a press conference Friday calling on Nolan to leave the race.
“He is choosing to do nothing, he chose to do nothing when women came to him in his office. Congressman Nolan is making the wrong choice and he’s the wrong choice for Minnesota,” Elianne Farhat, program director with TakeAction, said. “It’s time for him to step down. State law doesn’t allow Nolan to be removed from the ballot at this point in the race, Farhat said, but Swanson can “clearly communicate” the path forward for her ticket.
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Swanson Refuses To Kick Nolan Off Gubernatorial Ticket
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — DFL gubernatorial candidate Lori Swanson breaks her silence amidst controversy surrounding her running mate.
In an anonymously-sourced article, MinnPost criticized how Congressman Rick Nolan handled a staffer accused of sexual harassment. In response, groups called for Swanson to address it and for her to drop Nolan.
“This is not a confusing moment, the choice is very clear,” said TakeAction Minnesota’s Eliane Farhat. “Times up.”
Koch brothers’ influence in Minnesota reaches beyond just campaigns
A series of college appearances by a Minneapolis improv theater company. Opposition to a ban on flavored tobacco sales at Duluth convenience stores. Funding for St. Cloud State University’s Economics Reading Group. A reinterpretation of the federal law governing mining leases near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. State legislation making it easier to hold protest organizers liable for damage.
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Koch groups are airing TV ads in Wisconsin against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and have long supported Republican Gov. Scott Walker. “Walker, in some fundamental way, doesn’t run Wisconsin,” said Matt Rothschild of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonprofit that promotes openness in government. “Wisconsin is run by the Koch brothers.”
Americans for Prosperity, a tax-exempt nonprofit with chapters in 36 states, is the highest-profile Koch political entity in Minnesota. Since AFP began operations here in 2011, it has become “clearly a new force in Minnesota,” said Chris Conry of TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive group. “It’s a sophisticated effort.”
For the DFL, a ‘crazy ride’ to the primary awaits
Before they can turn to taking on Republicans, Minnesota DFLers face more than two months of infighting in the high-stakes races for governor and other top political posts.
Minnesota’s Aug. 14 DFL primary now features a three-way contest for governor with no clear front-runner, a five-way race for attorney general, and a mob of candidates vying for the newly open seat in the Fifth Congressional District.
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Dan McGrath, executive director of TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive group that helped secure Murphy’s endorsement, believes Murphy represents “the future of the party” in a way the other candidates do not. He dismisses the idea that voters in other parts of the state will look for a governor ticket with more geographic balance.
“I don’t buy it,” he said. “I think that the only people that it helps to talk about the divisions between greater Minnesota and urban areas is the GOP, who has made all of their politics around dividing people around race and place.”
What’s next for Democrats after ‘dumpster fire’ day?
At the end of filings Tuesday, Minnesota Democrats were facing a six-way primary for attorney general in August, a sudden eight-way intraparty battle for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison’s seat, and an unexpected, three-way primary for the open governor’s seat.
It was all part of what was described by some Democrats and Republicans as a “dumpster fire” day for Minnesota’s DFL Party.
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For Dan McGrath, the executive director of TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive campaign group, the divisions in the DFL now are part of a bigger change happening in the DNA of the party. He thinks candidates like Swanson, a moderate who has been attorney general for more than a decade, represent a fading wing of the DFL party
“This is the old guard making an end run around the future of the party,” said McGrath, whose organization endorsed Murphy for governor. “For the DFL party 20 or 30 years ago, the political landscape in our state was very different. The candidates that are rising to the top right now are the ones who really understand how our state has changed demographically, racially, and they are carving out a vision for what that will look like.”
And plenty of Democrats think the glut of candidates filing for office is simply a direct result of enthusiasm across the party, voters and candidates alike.
“I would much rather go into this general election with an incredible amount of energy, more than anything else,” McGrath said. “The byproduct of that is, it’s going to be messy.”
Federal Tax Cuts Leave States in a Bind
The federal tax overhaul cut taxes for millions of American families and businesses. But the law also had an unintended effect: raising the state-tax bite in nearly every state that has an income tax.
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Business groups have criticized the governor’s proposal, which they argue would make Minnesota less competitive. Some progressive groups say the state should go further, using the extra revenue generated by the federal law to fund a paid family-leave program or childhood savings accounts. “This is exactly the kind of thing you could use to start the core investment of a program like that,” said Chris Conry, strategic campaigns director for TakeAction Minnesota, a liberal advocacy group. “You could give every kid born in Minnesota $500 at birth.”
It’s locals vs. the Legislature, round 2: The battle over pre-emption is back at the Minnesota Capitol
On the first day of the 2018 legislative session in Minnesota, lawmakers reinstated a committee, which included members of both the House and Senate, to discuss House File No. 600. It was a procedural motion that went mostly unnoticed, but in doing so, the most contentious debate of the last session was quietly renewed: whether to pre-empt local governments from setting their own wage and labor rules and other policies.
Pre-emption became a top priority in 2017 for Republican legislative majorities in Minnesota and in other states across the nation, as they moved to block more progressive city governments from increasing their own minimum wages and setting new paid leave policies that don’t match up with state regulations. Minnesota lawmakers also introduced proposals to pre-empt cities on a host of other policy issues, from trying to ban the use of plastic bags in retail stores to becoming sanctuary cities.
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Democrats expect pre-emption bills to make a comeback. “We are preparing for it to be a battle,” said Chris Conry, who works with TakeAction Minnesota, one of the groups that filled the Capitol last session to oppose pre-emption. “We are in a state of preparedness.”
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For his part, TakeAction Minnesota’s Conry is watching all of the pre-emption proposals at the Legislature this year, but he’s hopeful none will pass with Dayton in the governor’s office — and as more Minnesotans learned what those bills do. “It’s deeply unpopular,” he said. “When people understand that their own legislator is trying to undermine local democracy to try and prevent people from raising the minimum wage or getting sick time, no one is really excited about it.”
Minnesota’s Precinct Caucuses Set to Begin
DULUTH, Minn. -Precinct caucuses will be held across the state of Minnesota on Tuesday, Feb.6.
Caucuses are meetings held as a way to engage local community members with their chosen political parties.
People show support for their preferred candidates through an endorsement process that leads up to the state party conventions.
Around here, the governor’s race and 8th district congressional race are getting a lot of attention.
“For this area will it not only pick delegates for the mid–term election this year, but those folks will then continue to be delegates into 2019 for the municipal elections as well,” said Take Action MN Duluth Program Manager Shawnu Ksicinski.
You must be eligible to vote to participate in a caucus but don’t have to be registered.
Finance report offers more details about funding behind pro-business group involved in 2017 Minneapolis election
“There was no money from the Koch brothers, no funding from Hubbard Broadcasting or Walmart. But a long-anticipated (yet still-late) report by the pro-business political committee Minnesota Jobs Coalition revealed that its role in the 2017 Minneapolis City Council election was substantial, and that it was financed by prominent business interests, including the Pohlad brothers, Ryan Companies, Sherman Associates, Swervo Management, the downtown building owners and managers and the Minnesota Multi-Housing Association.
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While the two different sets of reporting rules allowed some donors to escape pre-election scrutiny, it also allows opponents to fill the information void with speculation. In the run-up to November, TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive activist group, alleged that national corporations and conservative interests were trying to “buy” the Minneapolis City Council.”
Why Minnesota’s caucuses are so important this year
“It was 16 degrees outside — and three days before the city was to host Super Bowl 52 — but on a recent Thursday night in Minneapolis, two dozen people still battled traffic and packed into a community room in the Temple Israel in Uptown.
The event had nothing to do with football, but it was a pregame of sorts. “Is anybody here training to go to their first caucus ever?” Carin Mrotz, director of Jewish Community Action, asked the group. More than half the hands in the room shot up into the air.
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To help explain the caucus process, organizers of the training, which included Take Action Minnesota, handed out a 10-page packet with answers to frequently asked questions. There are plenty of things caucus-goers need to remember about the process.” Read more
Comments of Minn. gubernatorial candidate regarding Muslim-Americans condemned
TakeAction Minnesota released the following statement regarding comments made by Jeff Johnson, the leading GOP gubernatorial candidate, and state Reps. Cindy Pugh and Kathy Lohmer regarding participation by Muslim families in Minnesota’s precinct caucuses.
“Minnesotans know we are strong when we’re united. As we approach precinct caucuses, people from all walks of life are showing up together because they want to contribute to our democracy. Any elected official who lacks respect for Muslim families, or tries to divide us is wrong for our state. We’re not weak and divided.
We stand behind ISAIAH, the Center on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota as they train individuals on our caucus system and strengthen democracy in our state.” Read more.
Pro-business Minnesota Jobs Coalition dumped $140,000 into Minneapolis campaign before city election
The pro-business political committee Minnesota Jobs Coalition dumped $140,000 into a Minneapolis fund set up to elect a more business-friendly City Council, but it did so too late to be included in pre-election campaign finance reports.
The specter of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition — a statewide conservative pro-business PAC — influencing city elections had been raised by activists in the months and weeks leading up to Election Day. But because the funding didn’t show up in pre-election campaign finance reports, the level of its involvement was left open to speculation.
Before the election, the founders of Minneapolis Works had invited donors to give either to the new committee or to Minnesota Jobs Coalition, yet no money from the Jobs Coalition showed up in campaign finance disclosures as of late October. It wasn’t until year-end reports were finally filed this week that the public was able to see that money from the Jobs Coalition did flow into Minneapolis Works, though only after the last reporting deadline of 2017 so as not to become a campaign issue.
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Local progressive organizations, led by TakeAction Minnesota, tried to raise concerns about outside business money coming into the Minneapolis election. Because the Jobs Coalition has in the past received money from national conservative funders the Koch Brothers, TakeAction alleged that they were trying to buy the City Council. The Jobs Coalition is already a target of progressive groups because it was active in helping turn the state Legislature over to the Republicans. Ironically, one of its strategies was to link Democrats from Greater Minnesota to Minneapolis DFLers. Read more.
Pro-business Minnesota Jobs Coalition dumped $140,000 into Minneapolis campaign before city election
“The pro-business political committee Minnesota Jobs Coalition dumped $140,000 into a Minneapolis fund set up to elect a more business-friendly City Council, but it did so too late to be included in pre-election campaign finance reports.
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Local progressive organizations, led by TakeAction Minnesota, tried to raise concerns about outside business money coming into the Minneapolis election. Because the Jobs Coalition has in the past received money from national conservative funders the Koch Brothers, TakeAction alleged that they were trying to buy the City Council. The Jobs Coalition is already a target of progressive groups because it was active in helping turn the state Legislature over to the Republicans. Ironically, one of its strategies was to link Democrats from Greater Minnesota to Minneapolis DFLers.” Read More
