Paulsen has refused to sign DFL Candidate Dean Phillip’s pledge to keep SuperPACs out of Minnesota’s Third Congressional District
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chairman Ken Martin today called on Republican Representative Erik Paulsen to apologize after his Super PAC called concerned constituents in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District “animals.” In an email ahead of his restricted town halls, Paulsen’s Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) said concerned citizens will “show up in droves, like the animals they are.”
“This hateful comment embodies exactly why Minnesotans in the Third Congressional District are demanding new leadership. Using the guise of your big-money Super PAC to refer to your own constituents as ‘animals’ is cowardly and abhorrent. It’s time for Erik Paulsen to follow Dean Phillips’s lead, reject PAC influence, and bring civility back to Minnesota’s Third Congressional District.”
DFL Candidate Dean Phillips has challenged Paulsen to sign The Minnesota Way Pledge to reject special interests and PAC influence, value conversations with voters, and commit to running an open, accessible campaign. Paulsen refused at yesterday’s event after 40 days of silence. If Paulsen signs the pledge and return the PAC money he got this cycle, Dean Phillips has agreed not to self-fund his own campaign.