Outside groups drop $134K on District 33 GOP primary races

Posted at 5:45 PM on September 26, 2012 by Catharine Richert (4 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Campaign 2012: Minn. House Races

Remember those nail-biter Republican primary races in legislative District 33?

As it turns out, the elections weren't just competitive, they were also expensive.

Outside political groups dumped a total of $134,200 in the district that covers Orono and other communities on the north side of Lake Minnetonka to either promote two Republican incumbents or to boost two outsider GOP candidates.

That's separate from what the candidates spent on their own races.

The Freedom Club, a group of like-minded conservative donors that back conservative candidates, spent more than $55,000 on advertising and direct mail opposing Republican Rep. Connie Doepke and supporting her opponent David Osmek, who ultimately defeated Doepke in the Aug. 14 primary. Osmek and Doepke were battling to represent District 33 in the Minnesota Senate.

Not that Doepke didn't have her own backers. The Minnesota Business Partnership PAC, which tends to support pro-business candidates, spent $3,700 on direct mail favoring Doepke, while Pro Jobs Majority - another business focused fund - spent $23,000 on Doepke's race.

Long-time Republican incumbent Rep. Steve Smith also lost his seat to Cindy Pugh on Aug. 14.

Again, the Freedom Club played a big role in promoting Pugh's campaign by dropping nearly $11,000 on mail, advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts on her behalf. Meanwhile, the same group spent about $28,000 opposing Smith through advertisements and mailers.

Minnesota's Future, another group that generally supports Republican candidates, spent about $13,500 on phone-banking and advertising favoring Pugh and opposing Smith.

Pugh won the race with a little over 70 percent of the vote.

Comments (4)

The "reporting" here is so biased in favor of Republicans. I don't have time right now to point out all the "evidence," but just look at the number of lines or words that are about the GOP compared with the number that are about the DFL.

Posted by Jamie | September 26, 2012 6:55 PM

$134,000 spent on a local PRIMARY race, all to ensure the "right" conservative candidates win. These Right-wing PACs bought these two candidates wins! We need election reform that allows for fair elections. If these two become actual representatives, it will be a travesty!

Posted by Steve Q. | September 27, 2012 9:09 AM

Hey "jamie", The reason the "reporting" is so "biased" in "favor" of Republicans would be because the "article" is about Republican races, not DFL. If you'd "read" the "headline", you'd understand that. All the "evidence" you need is in the "headline". That's usually where the "subject" of the article will be found.

Posted by Jim Bendtsen | September 27, 2012 10:10 AM

Mr. Bendtsen, I was referring to ALL of the articles here, not just this one.

Posted by Jamie | September 28, 2012 9:15 AM

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