Written by Jeremy Portnoy of RealClearInvestigations
Topline: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz received $890,000 in campaign contributions from employees, including top executives. Among 434 state vendors from 2019 to 2022, according to a new report from OpenTheBooks.
The companies collected about $15 billion in payments from the state from 2019 to 2023, according to state checkbooks.
Key facts: All of the donations went to Walz’s Minnesota gubernatorial re-election campaign and were made before he became the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
Donors included CEOs, presidents and other executives from 86 state suppliers.
Employees of the law firm Blackwell Burke donated $4,750 to Walz’s gubernatorial campaign. Campaign records show it separately received nearly $200,000 from the state. Co-founder Jerry Blackwell was one of the prosecutors who helped convict Derek Chauvin on murder charges in George Floyd’s death.
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Ted Mondale, director of new business development and government relations for computer consultant Atomic Data, donated $2,250 to Walz. His company separately received $169,310 from the state. Mondale is the son of former U.S. Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota, a former Democratic state senator who was also Jimmy Carter’s vice president.
Kinsale Communications received $160,583 in state spending despite no online records of the business. President Steve Kinsella and his family donated $3,000 to Walz’s campaign.
Other Walz campaign donors who received state business included banking chains such as Target, General Mills, Fortune 500 manufacturing company 3M, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank.
background: It is nearly impossible to identify which transactions represent an actual conflict of interest.
Minnesota checkbooks contain only the dollar value and a list of companies that received state funds. Even though neighboring states like Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota have been more transparent, state governments have ignored OpenTheBooks’ Freedom of Information requests for details of each transaction.
Walz finished his re-election campaign with more than $627,000 in cash on hand as of December 31, 2023. Although he can’t legally transfer cash to the Harris-Walz campaign, he could theoretically refund the donations and ask donors to give their money back. Even presidential tickets.
Related: Lawmakers investigate Soros’ ‘shortcut’ to buy radio stations before election
summation: Many Minnesota suppliers likely received state business without donating to Walz’s campaign. But taxpayers deserve to know if they are getting preferential treatment.
Forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com bring you #WasteOfTheDay.
Syndicated with permission from RealClearWire.
