Follow the Money: Politics and Environmentalism, Part 2

Drilling deeper into my post yesterday about the seams between the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party and the state's environmental non-profits, this post will go in depth on the activities of the Conservation Minnesota Voter Center/Voter Fund, the political action arm of the environmental group Conservation Minnesota.

According to data available at Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's website, the Conservation Minnesota Voter Fund raised over $120,000 in 2010 and spent over $166,000 on election activities (including in-kind contributions and unpaid bills).

Of the money raised, the largest single contribution ($50,000) was from Rockefeller-heiress Alida Rockefeller Messinger, the first wife of Minnesota's DFL Governor Mark Dayton.  The next largest contribution came from the national League of Conservation Voters at $35,000.  Taking the bronze medal was the Governor's aunt, Mary Lee Dayton, at $25,000.  Board members Darby Nelson (former DFL state representative), Nancy Gibson (controversial Co-Chair of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota  Resources) and Lucy Rogers (founder and board member of the Federal PAC Wait a Minute), all made contributions.

In 2010, the Wait a Minute Project raised less than $4,000 from individuals, with Alida Messinger contributing $2,000.  It supported DFL candidate Maureen Reed in her unsuccessful bid for the 6th District Congressional seat nomination.  In 2008 the Project supported DFL candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg in his unsuccessful bid for that same seat, which was won both times by Michelle Bachmann. 

The Conservation Minnesota Voter Center/Fund's board also includes, among others, Alida Messinger (as Vice President), Michael Noble (Executive Director of the Minnesota non-profit Fresh Energy), Gene Merriam (former DFL state senator), Frank Moe (former DFL state representative), and Judy Johnson (former Plymouth mayor and Republican candidate for state senate).

In 2010, the fund endorsed a total of 33 candidates for state legislature, including 8 Republicans.  If the idea was to gain credibility and get credit as a bipartisan operation, well, words are nice but cash is King.

Of the $166,000 spent by the Voter Fund in 2010, over $77,000 went to reimburse the Voter Center for its efforts.  According to its 2010 IRS Form 990, the Voter Center, in turn, made a $50,000 grant to Conservation Minnesota.  This arrangement works out well for the environmental non-profit.  Money raised for political purposes is used to support staff and overhead at the parent non-profit, freeing up other funds to be used in the core mission.  Of course, taking political money may imply some support for party or causes not related to that core mission.

A total of $15,050 went to party units, with $14,000 of that amount going to Democrats.  More than $33,000 was spent on Google ads to defeat Republican Tom Emmer, Mark Dayton's opponent for Governor, despite the fact that the Fund did not endorse a candidate in that race.  Of the remainder, less than $5,000 went to support endorsed candidates, and all 11 were DFLers.  Not one penny, in cash or in kind, went to support endorsed Republicans. 

But then again, all 8 endorsed Republicans won, anyway