So someone with a private equity firm in Los Angeles which employed MNGOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Honour* decided to buy Honour a governorship. Well, I guess having your own governor is a trinket few of us 99 percenters can boast of.
Compete Minnesota’s state filing shows that as of April 14, the group had more than $250,000 cash on hand, which came from three contributors. Alec Gores of the Gores Group, a private equity firm where Honour worked for several years in Los Angeles, contributed $200,000 of the total amount.
Now be fair, $200,000 isn't a whole gubernatorial campaign, and it sure isn't in Koch brothers territory. Still every billionaire does his bit, and it all adds up, every little $200,000 donation. In case you haven't heard of Compete Minnesota, neither has anyone else. Because it's new. Well, I imagine the three donors heard of it. Gores at least must have heard of it, offering a wad of cash out of his deep concern for Minnesota.
I imagine that deep concern was expressed a bit like this:
"Alec, Scott here. Can you stick a bunch of money into my campaign? Not that I can ask of course, but if someone wanted to make an independent expenditure, and asked you without my knowing about it, would you provide a big bunch of money? Purely hypothetical of course since it has to be independent."
"Of course Scott, no problem. What are you running for?"
"Governor."
"Ah. So you think you can beat Jerry Brown?"
"No, I'm in Minnesota now. I'm running for governor here."
"Minnesota?"
"Yes."
(sounding it out) "Minn e so ta"
"Yes"
"You're sure that's a real state?"
Thanks for watching out for us Alec!**
*Honour is one of several Republicans seeking their party's nomination for governor. The nomination looks like anybody's race right now, and the winner will be an underdog to Democratic incumbent Mark Dayton.
**Not that ALEC, a different one.
cross-posted at MN Progressive Project