MINNEAPOLIS — Recently uncovered campaign finance records show the Minnesota Twins made a $35,000 donation in October to "All of Minneapolis," a political action committee opposed to ballot question 2 in the upcoming election, which would replace the Minneapolis Police Department; the group is also in favor of re-electing Mayor Jacob Frey.
The list of donors include hundreds of individuals and some companies who have contributed to the campaign, including a donation made by the Minnesota Twins on Oct. 12, 2021.
When reached for comment, Twins officials said they could confirm the donation, but couldn't provide any more details.
While political donations from sports organization owners and staff are common, Professor of Political Science at Hamline University, David Schultz, said the Twins team donating money is uncommon.
“This is really something that is very unusual I think for local races, I’d even say very unusual in the state of Minnesota, and it runs a big risk for the Twins in terms of how this divides the fans or some fans against them,” Schultz said.
Schultz said sports organizations don’t normally make donations to political committees as a whole out of fear of being too political.
“I don’t think sports teams want to come out and be known as what, Democratic or Republican or pro-gun anti-gun,” Schultz said.
“They're hoping that most people don't realize that they've actually given money or spent money on this … I suspect that this issue is very divisive not just in terms of Minneapolis but statewide, and so they're trying to balance their fanbase, their support across the state of Minnesota along with what they perceive to be their own interests within the city of Minneapolis,” Schultz said.
Schultz said the only time sports teams donate to political efforts is when the proposal affects their own interests.
“They’re based in downtown Minneapolis,” Schultz said. “I think they’re concerned about what-- the fact that if it were to pass, how does this play in terms of their ability to maybe recruit people to come and watch games downtown or how it might affect how other teams across the country might come to Minneapolis.”
Records show some members of the Pohlad family, who own the Twins, also made individual donations to the committee, along with Timberwolves and Lynx COO Ryan Tanke, who made a personal donation of $250.
While it’s not in the thousands, Schultz said they share a common goal.
“What all of this collectively suggests is something really kind of interesting, is how the major league sports teams in Minneapolis really view this issue as really important to their existence and in fact for their perception whether it's right or wrong view, the passage of amendment number two could very well hurt their organizations.”
In total, All of Minneapolis reported nearly $1.6 million raised.
Yes 4 Minneapolis, the most vocal group in favor of question two, has raised $1.8 million.
Both All of Minneapolis and the Timberwolves/Lynx organizations have been contacted for comment but have not responded at the time of this article’s publication
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