Minnesota
Minnesota companies fund election deniers despite vowing not to • Minnesota Reformer
In the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, many leading Minnesota businesses announced they were pausing their political donations to review their giving strategy.
Some went further, vowing not to bankroll political candidates who supported Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
But today, three and a half years later, nearly all of them have resumed giving money to politicians engaging in election denial, according to an analysis by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit that investigates government corruption.
Among them were some of Minnesota’s blue-chip mega corporations: UnitedHealth, Target, Best, Buy, 3M, U.S. Bancorp, Ameriprise and Ecolab, which all promised not to donate to members of what CREW calls the “sedition caucus.”
But as of today, they’ve given hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians who voted against certifying the 2020 election, opposed the establishment of the Jan. 6 committee, or otherwise supported Trump’s attempt to undo the 2020 results.
A number of other Minnesota companies, including CHS, C.H. Robinson, Thrivent and Polaris, never promised to suspend donations and have continued giving money to candidates who sought to undermine the rightful, peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election.
One of those companies, Moorhead-based American Crystal Sugar, has for years been one of the biggest financial supporters of the sedition caucus. According to CREW’s analysis, they’ve given over $1 million since 2021, the third highest amount in the nation. Among other things, they’re focused on maintaining the federal program that keeps sugar prices high and undergirds their profitability.
Only one current Minnesota lawmaker voted against certifying the 2020 election results: Rep. Michelle Fischbach of the 7th District, who falsely told Fox News shortly after the 2020 election that vote tabulators were “finding votes” when in fact they were counting them.
In a sign of the state Republican Party’s post-Jan. 6 radicalization, she was unable to obtain the party’s endorsement this year and is now facing a primary challenge from a Christian nationalist who says his goal is to “harness God’s power to lead ordinary Americans and their legislators in Washington back towards the Lord.”
CREW said the companies should mind the value of a stable democracy.
“Corporations depend on the stability and laws of a strong democracy in order to do business,” CREW writes. “Taking a stand against lawlessness aligns with the long-term interests of companies benefiting from government protection of intellectual property, contract enforcement and support for American business interests at home and abroad.”
According to their analysis, just one Minnesota company has so far upheld a promise to not give money to election deniers: Golden Valley-based Cheerio maker, General Mills.
The final game of the NFL’s Wild Card weekend is set to take the Minnesota Vikings to LA to face the NFC West champion Rams Monday night at SoFi Stadium. The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET, and tickets are still available to catch the action live.
How to get Vikings vs. Rams NFC Wild Card tickets: Seats are available for the NFC Wild Card matchup between the Vikings and Rams on secondary sites Vivid Seats, StubHub, SeatGeek and Viagogo.
As of Jan. 9, the starting prices were as follows:
- Vivid Seats starting at $87
- StubHub starting at $92
- SeatGeek starting at $92
- Viagogo starting at $91
#5 Minnesota Vikings (14-3) at #4 Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
NFC Wild Card Playoffs
When: Monday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif.
The Vikings had a shot to win the NFC’s top seed in Week 18, but fell short against the Detroit Lions, losing the NFC North Division and slipping to the No. 5 spot instead for a road matchup on Wild Card weekend. They are listed as 1-point favorites against the Rams after finishing the regular season with a 14-3 record and nine straight wins prior to last weekend’s 31-9 loss in Detroit. Though all the ingredients are in place for the Vikings to make a run, just three of their 14 victories this season came against playoff teams and one of their three losses came to the Rams (30-20) back in Week 8.
- Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Rams NFC Wild Card tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo
The Rams found their way through an injury-marred start to the season and closed it out strong with five straight wins before resting starters in a Week 18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks (30-25). The highlight of that stretch and their season as a whole was a 44-42 shootout win over the Buffalo Bills that was fueled by two Kyren Williams touchdown runs and a big day from the receiving duo of Puka Nacua (12-162-1) and Cooper Kupp (5-92-1). The same combination of playmakers around quarterback Matthew Stafford are central to LA’s path to victory against Minnesota.
Minnesota
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Lorenzo Reyes is back with his three best bets ahead of Sunday and Monday’s games during Wild Card Weekend.
There could still be one more football game played in Arizona this season. On Wednesday, the NFL announced that it has a contingency plan to potentially move Monday night’s wild-card game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams to State Farm Stadium due to ongoing wildfires raging across Southern California.
For now, the league is preparing for the game to take place at SoFi Stadium, the Rams’ home in Inglewood. But if a change of location is deemed necessary, the Cardinals’ stadium in Glendale would play host, giving Arizona its first playoff game — excluding Super Bowls — since the 2015 divisional round.
It would, however, not be the first time that NFL teams have had to move to Arizona. Here are the other times that similar moves have occurred:
2020: San Francisco 49ers
Due to the spread of COVID-19 in the fall of 2020, Santa Clara County briefly banned all contact sports. That forced the San Francisco 49ers to play three home games at State Farm Stadium. The team used fields near the stadium as its practice facility and stayed at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa across the street.
2007: San Diego Chargers
It would not be unprecedented if the Rams had to make Arizona home due to fires. The then-San Diego Chargers practiced at the Cardinals’ Tempe facility for three days in 2007 due to the Witch Creek Fire, which forced 40 members of the organization to evacuate their homes. The team returned to San Diego for their game that Sunday, defeating the Houston Texans.
2003: San Diego Chargers
Four years earlier, the Chargers had a Monday Night Football game against the Dolphins moved to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Again, the move was due to fires in Southern California, which caused poor air quality. The Chargers’ home field, Qualcomm Stadium, was also used as an evacuation center during the fires. Both teams flew to Arizona on game day for a game Miami won, 26-10. The NFL distributed 73,104 free tickets to the game.
Taylor Heise scored the overtime winner to lift the Minnesota Frost to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Fleet on Wednesday night
The win is the Frost’s third in as many games this season against the Fleet, and the second in seven days by an overtime finish. Hannah Bilka scored early on for the Fleet, making this the first time Boston has opened the scoring against Minnesota this season.
Later in the first period, Denisa Křížová scored her first goal of the campaign, tying the game at one and ending the game’s regulation scoring. Heise’s winner came at 3:20 of the extra frame on Minnesota’s first shot of overtime on Emma Söderberg, who stopped 24 shots throughout regulation. Maddie Rooney picked up her fourth win of the season with a 26-save performance.
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