RSLC To Spend $500,000 In Effort To Hold Minnesota Senate, Flip House

From the Minnesota Reformer:

By Ricardo Lopez
September 1, 2020

National political money is flooding Minnesota, which has the nation’s only divided Legislature ahead of a crucial redistricting election.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) announced this week it would spend $500,000 in an after to hold the GOP-led Minnesota Senate and help Republicans flip the Minnesota House, highlighting two Twin Cities suburban races.

Just 63 days remain until the election, and the late donation to key races could make a difference. The RSLC highlighted the candidacies of former Woodbury mayor Mary Guiliani Stephens, a Republican challenging Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent, DFL-Woodbury.

Minnetonka Beach Councilman Andrew Myers is challenging first-term Minnesota Rep. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, a Yale-educated physician who won the seat by 216 votes in 2018.

In a statement, RSLC president Austin Chambers said conservatives are fighting “for the soul of our nation,” adding: “ These women and men are needed in America’s legislatures to restore conservative values, defend our police force, and restore confidence in our government. We are proud to help them across the finish line this November.”

As the Reformer recently reported, large corporations in the nicotine, pharmaceutical and utlities industries are investing heavily in a Republican state Senate.

The RSLC announcement is reminiscent of a similar effort by Data for Progress, a progressive political group. In October 2018, it announced a late fundraising push to help Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislative candidates, ultimately helping Democrats reclaim the Minnesota House.

Data for Progress has not currently announced a similar effort in Minnesota this year.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell.