Minnetrista incumbents raise over $8K to hang onto their city council seats

Minnetrista incumbents have raised over $8K to hang onto their city council seats. Pam Mortenson and John Tschumperlin raised over $4,000 each and have spent all but a few hundred dollars of it to hold onto their seats on November 6. Here are the latest campaign finance reports for Pam Mortenson, John Tschumperlin and challenger Elroy Balgaard.  Previous reports for the candidates are posted on the city’s website.

When I ran for city council 2 years ago, I only spent a few hundred dollars on some signs and literature that I hand delivered myself. So why are things so ramped up this election? There is much at stake and lots of money to be made (or not) based on who wins. But more importantly the status quo could be threatened by an outsider that doesn’t rubber stamp the recommendations of city staff and the mayor.

In reviewing the campaign finance reports I was looking for “Our Minnetrista” to be listed as the incumbents’ political committee because their literature states that it was “Prepared and paid for by Our Minnetrista, PO Box 193, Mound, MN 55364. But there is no political committee named “Our Minnetrista” that has filed a campaign finance report this year, despite the fact their website is collecting donations for both candidates and they are paying for campaign literature. Someone may want to look into that.