Dem Gov Primary In Minnesota Turns Ugly

With over a year to go before any votes are even cast, the Democrat primary for Minnesota governor is already getting ugly. State auditor and declared gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Otto is reportedly keeping tabs on any records requests made to her office by potential opponents, and Otto supporters recently publicly shamed a backer of Democrat congressman Rick Nolan, who has expressed interest in running, after discovering his attempts to find opposition research related to Otto.

Minnesota Public Radio reports:

“Otto’s campaign has a standing request for copies of requests for records submitted with the auditor’s office. That practice was confirmed Thursday after a top supporter of U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan’s possible run for governor questioned on Twitter why his March 30 data practices request was circulated this week by an Otto political backer to Democrats statewide under the subject line ‘Let’s keep it positive.”

Justin Perpich, the 8th Congressional District DFL chairman who also leads a draft effort to get Nolan into the 2018 race, said he believes it was done to undermine his reputation. In an interview, Perpich insisted he wasn’t conducting opposition research on Otto when he requested details on her budget and costs associated with an ongoing legal challenge she has undertaken.”

After Senator Amy Klobuchar passed on running for governor, despite desperate pleas, Minnesota Democrats are already fighting each other and covertly digging into state records for opposition research. If this is any indication of what’s to come, Democrats are in for brutal, drawn-out primary that will leave their party divided.