MN Campaign Finance Board dismisses GOP complaint against Julie Bunn, investigates four others

The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board has dismissed a complaint brought against DFL Senate candidate Julie Bunn by the Republican Party of Minnesota (RPM), but the board is looking into similar complaints against at least four other Democratic state Senate candidates.

Bunn, who is running for Senate District 39 in the eastern suburbs, was one of five DFL candidates who, along with the DFL Senate Caucus, were accused of colluding with the state DFL Party on independent expenditures.  The complaints alleged that  literature sent out by the DFL Party used pictures of candidates that appeared to be taken exclusively for the outside expenditure lit pieces, which the RPM alleged was evidence of illegal coordination between the groups.

Bunn said the board dismissed the complaint against her in a letter dated Oct. 16. “I am pleased to learn that the Board has dismissed this unfounded GOP complaint in a timely manner,” Bunn said in a statement. “The Minnesota Republican Party either failed to minimally do their homework before filing this complaint, or the complaint was filed for political gain knowing that the allegation was false.”

RPM released a statement Thursday noting they had also received a letter from the board stating its intentions to investigate the four other candidates accused of collaborating. Those candidates are Jim Carlson, who is running in Senate District 51, Melisa Franzen in Senate District 49, Alice Johnson in Senate District 37, and Vicki Jensen in Senate District 24.

The party has also filed an additional complaint alleging state party collusion with DFLer Al Oberloh, who is running in Senate District 22.