I know that many list members frolic with glee when the campaign finance
reports come out--it's just one more fun part of the horse-race of
campaign season to many observers. However, I find it strange that
nobody has picked up on what appears to be a clear violation of the
state's campaign finance laws.
Minnesota has been at the forefront in a number of campaign finance
reform in a number of ways, but one very clear way to limit the
influence of money in politics is to keep corporations out of the mix.
This is why Minnesota very clearly lays out in 211B.15 of the Minnesota
Statutes that corporations cannot make political contributions to
candidates. This is a sort of "Politics 101" for campaigns. This is
why I was shocked to see multiple instances of what appear to be
corporate contributions in the Pre-Primary report from the Johnson Lee
campaign.
The following entries in that campaign finance report seem to be fairly
obvious violations of the law:
Farmers Market Annex of Minneapolis LLC
On Track for Life, Inc.
Yendor Corp DBA Augie's
I don't really know the history of these particular donations, but the
LLC, Inc, and Corp seem to belie the fact that these are corporations
included under the statute. Perhaps these reports were filled out
incorrectly--in that case, I worry about the management of the Johnson
Lee campaign. Perhaps these reports were filled out correctly--in that
case, I worry about the ignorance of the law that is apparent here.
Perhaps these are not actually corporations, and their names unfairly
characterize them as such. For the purposes of campaign finance law,
the statute defines corporations in three ways:
(1) a corporation organized for profit that does business in this state;
(2) a nonprofit corporation that carries out activities in this state; or
(3) a limited liability company formed under chapter 322B, or under
similar laws of another state, that does business in this state.
I hope that someone with more familiarity with corporate law can clarify
this issue for me. I am not, nor have I ever been, a lawyer, so I would
appreciate further input on this matter. Can anyone explain how these
contributions are not direct violations of the law?
David Weinlick
Armatage
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