Minnesota secretary of state race draws national attention, spending from Democrats
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The battle for Minnesota secretary of state isn't usually a high-profile race, but this year the election is gaining national attention - and cash.
DFL incumbent Steve Simon faces GOP challenger Kim Crockett, who's trailing Simon in the latest Star Tribune poll by eight points.
One Democratic-aligned group "Safe Accessible Fair Election," which is affiliated with Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, is spending more than $1.5 million running dozens of ads on Twin Cities television stations, according to public filings submitted to the Federal Communications Commission.
This is unusual in Minnesota.
"Secretary of state is generally a sleepy position in terms of public attention and generally pretty sleepy in terms of how much money it attracts," said David Schultz, politics professor at Hamline University.
In wake of false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, candidates running to oversee elections are getting a closer look. Crockett has made the baseless claim that last election was "rigged" and did not commit to abiding by the results of this election in a debate last Sunday. She later clarified her comments and said she would accept the outcome, barring a state recount.
Central to Crockett's platform is supporting reforms to the state's election laws - including shrinking the early voting period and implementing voter I.D. - that she believes will bolster ballot security boost confidence in the state's elections.
Incumbent Simon has criticized her for spreading "dangerous disinformation" about elections and doubles down that in Minnesota, which boasts the highest voter turnout rate of any state, has elections that are both safe and secure.
Safe Accessible Fair Elections is going after Crockett, and it's part of a national effort targeting other secretary of state races across the country with candidates that plan to "undermine voting rights, derail democracy, and take away Americans' freedoms," according to a release.
The total campaign across all states will cost $25 million.
Politico reported that this is the largest-ever TV buy from the group.
Another liberal organization, iVote, is spending twice as much as it did on media four years ago, including $2 million in both Minnesota and Michigan, a report from Politico said. The FCC filings show dozens of ads have been booked through Nov. 7, the day before the election.
Schultz said there's usually not enough money raised by candidates seeking the office of secretary of state to run TV ads on their own because these races typically don't have the same fundraising power as federal races or other statewide races like the campaigns for governor.
"We're usually looking at secretary of state races that are only a few hundred thousand dollars. In politics, it's not a lot of money," Schultz said. "This year it seems like the stakes are higher and public attention is more than we've seen in many years and money seems to be flowing to these races in ways we haven't really seen."
One of President Trump's fiercest critics, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois - a Republican who served on the U.S. House January 6th Select Committee - endorsed Simon and others outside his party on Tuesday.
