D.C. Memo: Dem candidates top GOP rivals in Senate race fundraising

WASHINGTON It s still early in the campaign cycle but Democratic candidates for retiring Sen Tina Smith s seat have a decided political cashraising advantage over their GOP rivals Rep Angie Craig D- nd District has raised the the majority money to run for Smith s seat nearly million according to fundraising reports of the first six months of the year filed with the Federal Vote Commission A few of Craig s political cash was transferred from her House campaign account But Craig also raised nearly million from individuals and about from political action committees including the Xcel Force Employees Committee PAC the General Mills PAC and the Fox Corporation PAC Related Campaign for Rep Craig s House seat heats up Democratic rival Lt Gov Peggy Flanagan raised more than million for her Senate bid Unlike Craig Flanagan has pledged not to accept any corporate PAC money But Flanagan a member of the White Earth Nation has raised various of her campaign cash in Indian country Her campaign finance records show Flanagan received donations from New York s Oneida Indian Nation Arizona s Ak-Chin Indian Society the Tulalip Tribes of Washington and the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana Flanagan also hosted a June benefit event at Foxwood Resorts and Casino in Connecticut which is owned by the Mashantucket Pequots one of the nation s wealthiest tribes Lt Governor Flanagan is proud of her grassroots patronage from over donors including tribal nations that are backing her because of her ability to deliver on economic issues that impact peoples daily lives and the historic nature of her campaign disclosed campaign spokeswoman Alexandra Fetissoff In contrast the two Republicans who have declared their candidacy for Smith s seat have at least so far raised far less money Former NBA member Royce White who made an unsuccessful bid for Sen Amy Klobuchar s seat last year raised a little more than And former Marine Adam Schwarze who is also a Republican disclosed raising about Fundraising for Smith s seat is in the very early stages Last year the winner of a Senate seat spent an average of million And the prospect of winning an open seat is likely to cost even more Damaging cuts to MPR The Senate and House this week passed a bill that cut money that had already been appropriated by Congress for the Corporation for Citizens Broadcasting which helps fund National Society Radio and PBS and a series of State Department programs including international calamity assistance The billion elimination of funding for CPB would hurt NPR but would have an even greater impact on smaller local general broadcasting stations For instance the bill would cut about million from Minnesota Masses Radio about of the station s budget which has already suffered a million reduction in funding from the state We are concerned that this is damaging to Minnesota General Radio aid Anissa Rogness MPR s director of citizens affairs about the cut to CPB funding Rogness reported the station has hopes for new revenue streams but may have to make changes in staffing and offerings Minnesota Constituents Radio will still be here Rogness commented But it will look different All Democrats and two Republicans voted against the recissions package in the Senate but the measure was approved on a - vote Sen Tina Smith missed the vote because she was hospitalized after feeling ill on Wednesday evening but her vote against the bill would not have stopped its approval Smith s office revealed the -year-old senator was hospitalized out of an abundance of caution after the senator experienced chest pains But Smith explained she was given a clean bill of strength Before the House voted on the bill largely along party lines early Friday Smith and House Democrats including Rep Betty McCollum D- th District Rep Ilhan Omar D- th District and Rep Kelly Morrison D- rd District wrote to President Donald Trump asking him to abandon the attempt to claw back funds The cuts to CPB in the recission package undermine the community media that Americans rely on for unfettered access to information educational activities for kids cultural services and nationwide urgency alerting the lawmakers letter reported Trump not sweet to corn growers The nation s corn growers are pushing back against President Trump s attempt to change Coca-Cola s formula which for years has used high-fructose corn syrup to sweeten the popular drink I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States and they have agreed to do so I d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola This will be a very good move by them You ll see It s just better Trump noted in a post on Truth Social Coca-Cola however has not stated it will make the change from corn syrup which the company began using in to cane sugar Nevertheless the president s social media post has alarmed the nation s corn growers The Minnesota Corn Growers declined comment preferring instead to point to a message issued on Thursday by Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar doesn t make sense Bode stated President Trump stands for American manufacturing jobs American farmers and reducing the arrangement deficit Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs depress farm income and boost imports of foreign sugar all with no nutritional benefit According to the U S Department of Agriculture about million bushels of U S corn was used to make high fructose corn syrup in In incident you missed it State cabinet reporter Matthew Blake took a close look at the administrative burdens in Minnesota that will likely stem from Medicaid changes in the big beautiful bill passed by Congress We shared a piece from The New Lede on proposed Republican cuts to the U S Environmental Protection Agency in an appropriations bill working its way through the U S House We also ran a piece by The Grist on how consumers can make use of green capacity tax credits which were eliminated in the big beautiful bill before they disappear And facts reporter Shadi Bushra wrote about the promising impact of federal immigration plan on Minnesota s population This and that A reader was angered that a Minnesota Republican failed to vote to advance decree that would force the U S Justice Department to make inhabitants information related to its assessment of Jeffrey Epstein a financier and convicted sex offender who died while awaiting trial in Will you be asking Rep Michelle Fischbach MN CD why she voted to block release of the Epstein files the reader demanded As a member of the Rules Committee Fischbach voted this week with bulk Republicans on the panel to block a vote on the ordinance sponsored by Rep Ro Khanna D-Calif that would force the release of information sought by a segment of the MAGA world President Donald Trump had long accused the Biden administration of hiding a list of Epstein clients and promised during his campaign for the White House to release that list But now Attorney General Pam Bondi says no such list exists Fischbach who is notoriously media shy could not be reached for comment But other GOP lawmakers noted the regulation would force the release of sensitive material that could harm Epstein s casualties The uproar over the release of the so-called Epstein files among Trump s supporters a rebellion that has been fanned by Democrats shows no signs of abating even after an increasingly frustrated Trump demanded the MAGA crowd to drop the issue For instance Trump on Truth Social called those fixated on the affair PAST supporters and declared I don t want their advocacy anymore Trump seemed to soften his position on the release of information about athe review into accusations Epstein trafficked girls who were as young as after the Wall Street Journal broadcasted that a bawdy letter bearing Trump s signature was included in an album of letters Epstein received for his th birthday Trump called the letter a fake On Thursday night Trump instructed Bondi to release all pertinent grand jury testimony related to Epstein s development subject to court approval Please keep your comments and any questions coming I ll try my best to respond Please contact me at aradelat minnpost com The post D C Memo Dem candidates top GOP rivals in Senate race fundraising appeared first on MinnPost