Category: Dean Phillips

New Record for ‘Outside Spending’ on Minnesota House Races

With nearly three weeks to go before Election Day, outside special interest groups have already spent a record amount of money in Minnesota. This week, the outside spending surpassed $27 million, more than the record $26.9 million spent in the entire 2016 election cycle.

“Money is attracted to competitive races and we’re right in the middle of that,” said Steven Schier, a political scientist from Carleton College. “I think money is going to Minnesota because the polling on both sides that we don’t see publicly shows a lot of competition, particularly in the congressional races.”

KSTP ‘Vote 2018’ Election Coverage

A review of outside spending records at opensecrets.org shows a pronounced increase in spending on Minnesota’s U.S. House races. In 2008, just $5.7 million was spent in the state. That figure jumps to $21.9 million in 2014 and now to more than $27 million.

View the complete October 17 post on the KSTP.com website here.

Flier’s attack on Dean Phillips as ‘heartless’ is false

Erik Paulsen attacks again, falsely, might I add.

Recently I received a flier telling me that Dean Phillips is “heartless” because when he was “in charge,” 12,000 nurses went on strike when their health insurance was threatened.

That is false. Here are the actual facts: Continue reading “Flier’s attack on Dean Phillips as ‘heartless’ is false”

Paulsen, NRCC, CLF Ignore Public Shaming, Double Down on Lies

Paulsen’s coordinated smear campaign reaches an unprecedented low as he ignores requests from survivors to stop who demand better

Excelsior, MN – Erik Paulsen’s desperate and disgraceful coordinated smear campaign against Dean Phillips reached new lows this week when the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), Paulsen for Congress and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released new coordinated ads featuring claims that have drawn extraordinary blowback from one of the Twin Cities’ most important health providers, prominent Republicans, community and business leaders, and the sexual assault and harassment survivors Paulsen is using as political pawns.

The women, represented by attorney Lori Peterson, recently called on Paulsen to take down his ad and apologize for exploiting their trauma and drawing them into a political attack based on a lie. Instead, Paulsen and his special interests patrons are doubling down.

“This is the most vile, offensive and objectively untruthful campaign ever conducted in Minnesota, and Erik Paulsen is to blame,” said Zach Rodvold, campaign manager for Phillips for Congress. “In Congressman Paulsen’s desperation to hold onto power, he’s shown that he is willing to do and say anything to win, even forcing survivors of sexual assault and harassment to relive their trauma for his own personal gain. Those women have joined with Republicans, business and community leaders and people across the district in calling on Paulsen to take his ads down and apologize. That’s exactly what he should do.” Continue reading “Paulsen, NRCC, CLF Ignore Public Shaming, Double Down on Lies”

With Three Weeks to Election Day, Desperate GOP Attacks Continue to Backfire

With no positive message to run on, Republican candidates continue to resort to misleading and flat-out false attack ads.

As Minnesota Republican Congressional candidates and their Washington allies get increasingly desperate, their attacks on DFL candidates continue to backfire. With no positive message to run on, Republicans continue to resort to misleading and flat-out false attack ads.

“The outrageous falsehoods that the Republican party continues to peddle are pathetic,” said DFL Chair Ken Martin.  “From accusing decorated combat veteran Dan Feehan of being hostile to our Armed Forces, to suggesting that well-regarded civic leaders took part in a sexual harassment cover-up, the GOP has stooped to new lows in a last-ditch attempt to hold on to their fleeting Congressional majority. Republicans are refusing to talk about their policy positions because they know that DFLers are on the winning side of the issues voters care about, like ensuring access to quality affordable health care, getting dark money and special interests out of politics, and creating an economy that works for all Minnesotans.”

Yesterday, The Star Tribune published an op-ed penned by several respected Twin Cities civic leaders condemning Third District Rep. Erik Paulsen for the “unprecedented” and “outrageous” lies in his latest attack on DFL candidate Dean Phillips. Unlike other attack ads this year from outside groups, the spot in question is paid for an authorized directly by the Paulsen campaign. Continue reading “With Three Weeks to Election Day, Desperate GOP Attacks Continue to Backfire”

Have dishonest political ads become the norm?

To the Editor:

For several months I’ve watched as Erik Paulsen’s campaign, PACs, shadow groups, and even the Congressman himself resort to lie after lie about Dean Phillips and wonder why he resorts to such dishonest attack ads to win reelection.

After all, the facts are clear and verifiable:

  • Phillips has always provided health insurance to his full-time workers. And he pays a $15 minimum wage to help part-timers buy their own coverage.
  • As Allina Board Chairman, he was never involved in either negotiations or strategies for dealing with the nurses’ union. That’s not a board chair’s role or responsibility.
  • The Paulsen ads try to tie him to sexual-harassment complaints filed against Talenti Gelato, a company he once owned. Those complaints were from July 2015, more than a year after he’d sold the company.
  • Phillips was gone two years from Phillips Distillery when someone filed complaint about a marketing strategy that seemed to target youth, a campaign the company ended shortly after the complaint.
  • The Phillips Family Foundation, which Paulsen says “stashes money in offshore accounts” is a charitable organization that doesn’t pay taxes other than small federal excise taxes, so it has no reason to “stash” anything offshore.
  • The taxes they allege he avoided paying was actually an $89 fee assessed against and paid by his former company (Talenti Gelato) for filing a tax form late in 2013.

Continue reading “Have dishonest political ads become the norm?”

Minnesota Leaders Join Together to Condemn Erik Paulsen’s Unprecedented Negative Campaign as “Reckless,” “Inappropriate” and “Desperate”

Paulsen’s coordinated smear campaign uses sexual harassment survivors as political pawns against their will, a new low in Minnesota politics

Excelsior, MN — In a stunning editorial yesterday, Minnesota business and community leaders joined together to condemn Erik Paulsen’s outrageously negative and dishonest campaign. The influential group issued an incredible rebuke of Erik Paulsen’s campaign, labeling it “reckless,” and “inappropriate,” and saying that “he has exhibited some of the worst behavior and judgment that we have ever seen in a congressional campaign.”

Paulsen, who has previously worked hard to craft a “nice guy” image, has repeatedly doubled down on this, and other false, out of context and distorted attacks, in his 2018 campaign against Dean Phillips. And while Republican outside spending groups have garnered national attention for their strategy of coordinated personal attacks based on falsehoods, Erik Paulsen himself has paid for and approved five straight ads containing these lies. Paulsen has even refused to acknowledge a request made by an attorney on behalf of the sexual harassment survivors that he stop using them as political pawns and take the ad down and apologize.

Authors of this article include:

  • Bill and Penny George: Penny is chair of the George Family Foundation, Bill is former chair and CEO of Medtronic.
  • Ed and Valerie Spencer: Ed is a former Allina Health Board Chair, both he and Valerie are community volunteers.
  • Tad and Cindy Piper: Tad is the retired chairman and CEO of Piper Jaffray, both he and Cindy are community volunteers.
  • Terry Saario and Lee Lynch: Terry is the former president of the Northwest Area Foundation, and Lee is cofounder of the advertising firm Carmichael Lynch.
  • Jim and Carmen Campbell: Jim is a former CEO of Wells Fargo Minnesota, both he and Carmen are community volunteers.

They write: Continue reading “Minnesota Leaders Join Together to Condemn Erik Paulsen’s Unprecedented Negative Campaign as “Reckless,” “Inappropriate” and “Desperate””

Paulsen is not Mr. Nice Guy

To the Editor:

Political candidates should talk about what they are going to do for our district instead of trashing their opponent. I am disgusted by Erik Paulsen’s negative TV ads opposing Dean Phillips. They constitute a Trump-worthy, personal smear campaign.

I cringe and mute the TV or change channels every time they come on. Based not on factual information but partial truth and innuendo, I see traces of antisemitism at the margins of these ads. I hope my district will not be fooled by the special interests funding them. We are smart enough to see through the tactics of using character assassination to get votes.

The Minnesota I know and love deserves representation for all of us in the 3rd Congressional District, regardless of party. We deserve and should demand a representative with civility who examines the issues, listens to all sides of an argument and builds consensus. Erik Paulsen won’t meet with his constituents, publishes strategic photo ops with veterans and makes school visits to court the 18-year-old vote. These are all superficial attempts to portray himself as Mr. Nice Guy. He is not. He votes the conservative Republican agenda 97.8 percent of the time, according to ABC’s FiveThirtyEight. We do not need Donald Trump representing the 3rd District. Please vote for Dean Phillips.

Mary Jane Miller, Minnetonka
MInnetonka Sun-Sailor, October 15, 2018

TV ads draw fire in hard-fought Twin Cities congressional races

Accuracy of allegations called into question.

GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen listens to DFL candidate Dean Phillips at their debate at the UBS Forum at Minnesota Public Radio. Credit: Tony Saunders, MPR via AP

A national Republican political group attacks Democratic candidate for Congress Angie Craig in a TV ad for supporting repeal of the federal medical device tax, even though her Republican opponent also supports repealing that tax.

U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s latest ad hitting his opponent, Democrat Dean Phillips, over a sexual harassment scandal draws a public rebuke from an attorney in the case who says Phillips had nothing to do with it.

As Election Day draws closer, the TV ad wars in these two suburban Twin Cities districts are growing more intense. Paulsen and Rep. Jason Lewis, the Republican in the neighboring congressional district, are facing Phillips and Craig in two expensive, hard-fought races that are among a handful likely to help determine which party controls the U.S. House next year.

On Friday, attorney Lori Peterson — who represented a group of women who sued Allina Health for sexual harassment in 2007 — blasted Paulsen for making it a campaign issue against Phillips.

View the complete October 12 article by Maya Rao and J. Patrick Coolican on the StarTribune website here.

Democrats are going for laughs in their midterms ads. Republicans are going for fear.

Why 2018 candidates, parties, and PACs are getting creative with their political ads.

Bad political ads are everywhere. You know the ones — footage of a candidate walking down a quaint Main Street, touring a construction site wearing a hard hat, or shaking hands at a senior center while a disembodied narrator intones their life accomplishments.

Those ads make veteran political filmmaker Mark Putnam’s eyes glaze over.

“Without singling out any particular — I don’t need to — there are so many like that,” Putnam told me in a recent interview.

View the complete October 11 article by Ella Nilsen on the Vox.com website here.