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| https://www.trackaipac.com/states/minnesota?rq=angie |
Open https://www.trackaipac.com/states/minnesota?rq=Minnesota, to find the one MN Rep who is clean, vs. the one Rep who's gotten the most AIPAC and related money - more than Craig, who is in second place. The clean one no surprise, the dirt bag may surprise you. It did not surprise me. Go figure.
Back to the current MN Senate race money story - MSN carrying Strib content, no paywall -
Unknown donors pouring millions into what could be Minnesota’s most expensive Senate primary
An onslaught of untraceable spending has poured into the Democratic race between Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, making the contest for U.S. Senate among the most expensive primaries Minnesota has seen.
The influx of this “dark money” has sparked criticism by Flanagan, who says industry donors want to elect Craig to do their bidding. Craig’s campaign has criticized Flanagan for accepting outside support from big tobacco and big oil when she previously chaired the Democratic Lieutenant Governor’s Association (DLGA).
To date, outside groups that must disclose their donors to federal regulators have spent more than $10 million on ads either supporting Craig or attacking Flanagan. Some of the funding for those ads has been funneled through a dark money group that doesn’t have to disclose its donors, however.
Additionally, more than $2 million in spending on ads praising Craig has come from organizations whose donors are untraceable.
“These outside groups aren’t spending millions of dollars to elect Congresswoman Craig to the Senate for no reason,” Flanagan said at a news conference last week. “They’re investing in someone who will do their bidding and attacking me because I won’t.”
Political action committees that are obligated to reveal their donors have spent more than $2 million supporting Flanagan. Those groups draw funding from labor unions, corporations, individual donors, Democratic organizations and other PACs, including some dark money groups.
Craig thinks Flanagan’s attacks are hypocritical given the corporate PAC money that flowed into the DLGA under her leadership and because one of the PACs backing the lieutenant governor began airing negative advertising against the congresswoman first.
“If she thinks this is bad, just wait until Republicans come after her if she’s our candidate,” Craig said in an interview.
Craig and Flanagan, who are vying to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith, are locked in a competitive race for the Aug. 11 primary that’s emblematic of the broader struggle between the centrist and progressive wings of the party.
Craig hopes her fundraising advantage and record of flipping a red district will persuade voters to choose her to take on the Republican candidate this fall, while Flanagan has tapped into a progressive backlash against President Donald Trump and argues her campaign prioritizes the “many over the money.”
The vast majority of outside spending for Craig comes from North Star Dawn, a super PAC that launched in January and has flooded TV and social media with ads. (Super PACs can’t coordinate with campaigns but face no spending limits.)
North Star Dawn’s ads laud Craig for standing up to Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after she suffered substantial backlash from the Democratic base in the wake of Operation Metro Surge, the immigration enforcement crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year. In January 2025, Craig voted for the Laken Riley Act, which mandates detention of undocumented immigrations arrested for certain crimes, a vote she has since said she regrets.
Federal campaign finance filings show North Star Dawn has spent more than $7 million supporting Craig or opposing Flanagan — almost all of it in the past six weeks.
North Star Dawn’s largest supporter is billionaire Stephen Mandel, founder of hedge fund Lone Pine Capital and a longtime Democratic donor. The group also received a six-figure donation from a political action committee associated with the Teamsters union. North Star Dawn received more than $530,000 in donations between its inception and the end of May, meaning most of its fundraising has not yet been disclosed. PACs must file reports again this week.
North Star Dawn’s spokesman, Jerid Kurtz, also placed ads on behalf of Civic Progress Fund, a new “social welfare” nonprofit established in December, according to federal filings.
Civic Progress Fund’s ads don’t, and can’t, explicitly support Craig, but they praise her position on ICE. Civic Progress is considered “dark money” because it doesn’t have to disclose its donors or spending to campaign finance regulators as a 501(c)(4) group.
Kurtz did not respond to requests for comment on his ties to the group.
[... omission contains some info on Flanagan-backing money]Craig says if she could she would “wave a magic wand and say: Republicans and Democrats, no more super PACs.”
But she emphasized that the only way to change the law is to win elections and try to reverse the decision.
“I’ve run five competitive House races, and in every single one of them, I’ve had to endure millions of dollars in attack ads from super PACs in these races,” Craig said. “This is part of being in the big leagues.”
©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
Craig is not a bad candidate. It is simply that Flanagan is far better, and that's why the DFL [Dem Party in MN] chose Flanagan by a whopping majority at its endorsement convention. Flanagan [https://peggyflanagan.com/endorsements/] got the better endorsements than Craig [https://angiecraig.com/endorsements/]. By far. Including Tina Smith, the retiring Senator endorsing Flanagan. And Bernie and Liz Warren!! AL FRANKEN!!
Craig got Mayor Pete, Slotkin, and Pelosi, for Christsakes. Conservative Dems where Pelosi had eighty-eight years in office quelling efforts at Healthcare for All.
Bad bunch, including Hakim Jeffries, and Josh Gottheimer. Gottheimer is someone, if endorsing me, I would not tell anyone. That awful. Republicanish to a fault.
Again, Craig is a good family person and a cut better than some [most?] of her endorsers.
The contest is night and day, with the bad money going by the millions to Craig.
As to Stephen Mandel, noted above as the pivotal figure behind the top Craig oriented money, he and spouse donate to Conservative Dems; CBS News beginning a post -
Hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel and his wife Susan are a billionaire power couple that has a history of springing into action come election season. Before the 2024 presidential contest, they hosted Joe Biden for a private fundraising dinner in Greenwich, Connecticut. Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry are other beneficiaries of the $84 million that the Mandels have sprinkled to Democratic campaigns over time, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Now, the couple is gearing up for the 2026 midterm elections.
The Mandels have given almost $10 million in support of Democrats seeking federal office this year, federal records show, with more expected.
[...] The Mandels' giving offers a window into how billionaire megadonors have become an unrivaled force in American politics. The ultra-wealthy donor class is preparing to pour resources into an election that will decide whether Republicans or Democrats have a majority in the next Congress.
In 2024, ultra-wealthy donors poured more than $3 billion into elections, led by the world's richest man — Elon Musk. He spent more than $290 million supporting President Trump and other Republicans, a record sum. [...]
Not bad people, but aiming wealth behind candidates who have not wanted to make waves. Status quo Dem donors. And the status quo needs boat rocking, big time.
Boat rocking is what Graham Platner wanted to do before he got done in by the Dem Establishment - by Cheyenne Hunt and others.