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ZuluMinnesota NOW and the Pro-Choice community as a whole contributed significant resources to the fight for marriage equality here in Minnesota. That is why we at Minnesota NOW were very disappointed to hear that the Minnesotans United PAC screens their candidates focused singularly on the issue of marriage for same-sex couples and that they will be providing funding to several legislators who have a history of voting for anti-choice legislation. We were told the Minnesotans United PAC will raise and spend resources to support legislators who voted for same-sex marriage – they have no other screens and are aware this model won’t work for all donors. We are truly saddened that the Minnesotans United PAC does not have our back when we need them. We are not equal until we are ALL equal.
We encourage you to direct your financial support to the Minnesota NOW PAC which screens candidates on all of our six core issues: LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, economic justice, racial equality, constitutional equality and freedom from violence. This will ensure your money is supporting a candidate that acts on all of your values, not just one.
The following 11 legislators are being made a priority by the Minnesotans United PAC and had a less than 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota last session:
Representative Joe Radinovich (DFL)
of Crosby, Minnesota – District 10B
Representative Tim Faust (DFL)
of Hinckley, Minnesota – District 11B
Representative Roger Erickson (DFL)
of Baudette, Minnesota – District 2B
Representative John Ward (DFL)
of Brainerd, MN – District 10A
Representative Pat Garofalo (R)
of Farmington, MN – District 58B
Representative Paul Marquart (DFL)
of Dilworth, MN – District 4B
Representative Jenifer Loon (R)
of Eden Prairie, MN – District 48B
Representative Jay McNamar (DFL)
of Elbow Lake, MN – District 12A
Senator Branden Petersen (R)
of Andover, MN – District 35.
Representative Andrea Kieffer (R)
of Woodbury, MN – District 53B
Representative David FitzSimmons (R)
of Albertville, MN – District 30B
Again, we urge you to support a PAC who truly has your back. Donate to the MN NOW PAC here.
Take a look at Tim Faust’s anti-choice voting record: http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/38623/tim-faust#.UkMMPoaUSmg Is this how reproductive justice allies are going to be rewarded for our hours of work for marriage equality?!
While I totally agree with the sentiment here, I do have to stand up for Joe Radinovich. As a rural Dem, I have a hard time voting for a lot of our Dem candidates specifically because of their often anti-choice views. However, Joe is NOT one of those people. He is my rep, and I know him personally and have spoken to him specifically about reproductive rights issues. While his voting record is not 100%, it’s wholly preferable to the alternative: a rabidly anti-choice Christian fundamentalist GOP candidate. Joe’s voting record on choice is a product of strategy – trying to stay in office in a VERY conservative area where many people vote solely on the issue of abortion. To my knowledge, he has not voted on anything that he thought would actually pass (in regards to abortion). Trust me, Joe IS a pro-choice advocate, and we need him desperately in this area.
I fully understand if you cannot support the MN United PAC because they will support candidates who are not 100% on choice. That is a fair and honorable position and I hope many people give to the NOW PAC. But to state that you “were very disappointed to hear that the Minnesotans United PAC screens their candidates focused singularly on the issue of marriage for same-sex couples” is disingenuous. This is not some new position taken by MN United. MN United was clear to legislators, coalition members, and the public that they would have the back of legislators who supported marriage equality regardless of positions on any other issue. The PAC announced its slate of 15 vulnerable legislators mere weeks after it was formed and many months ago. MN United has always made clear that it was not a coalition of just progressive interests, but was open to anyone who shared the position on the narrow issue of marriage equality including many Republicans.
“We are truly saddened that the Minnesotans United PAC does not have our back when we need them.” Really? What would you have MN United do? Imagine the harm if MN United were to withdrawal pledged support for 11 of 15 vulnerable legislators. We would never get Republican support in any other state on the marriage question. NOW is free to not support the MN United PAC but don’t rewrite history or ask MN United to sabotage the marriage movement in the rest of the country.