Political Contributions

(If you're one of the three Republicans who reads my LJ, feel free to just skip this post.)

If you live in Minnesota, you can donate $50 each year to candidates for state office, and have this money refunded by the Minnesota Department of Revenue. It's a very straightforward process -- you write a check for $50 to a candidate, they send you a form with a receipt, you fill it out and mail it in, and you get a check in the mail.

I'm not saying that you should only donate $50 per year. But at the very least, if you care about politics at all, donate at least that much. It's free money you can send to the candidate of your choice; there's no downside.

You can't get the PCR for donating to candidates for U.S House or Senate, or local offices like city council or school board. That has to come out of your own pocket. But any of the following races qualify: Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, State Representative, and State Senator.

I live in a very safe Democratic district. (In the last election, I think my Democratic state rep got over 75% of the vote. And the candidate in second place was a Green.) If you live in a similarly non-competetive district, let me suggest a race to donate to: Secretary of State. The DFL-endorsed candidate is Mark Ritchie. He sounds like a great guy: honest, experienced, committed to reducing barriers to voting, and most importantly, not Mary Kiffmeyer.

Even if you do not live in Minnesota, let me encourage you to donate to the Secretary of State race for your own state. You don't have to be a Democrat to have concerns about how elections have been conducted in the last six years. It's the Secretaries of State who interpret (and sometimes make) the rules. These races matter.