On the eve of tonight’s Packers/Vikings game, it’s clear that Packer Backer and Millionaire Stewart Mills III could use a better defense. New polling released Wednesday shows that Mills III is trailing Representative Rick Nolan by 11 points– despite Mills spending his own money to win the race. The poll is the latest in a string of bad headlines for Mills, who has been unable to escape video of him saying that he finds it “personally offensive” for millionaires like himself to pay his fair share.
“It’s clear that Minnesota voters are rejecting Millionaire Stewart Mills III because he’s just another millionaire who finds it “personally offensive” when the wealthy are asked to pay their fair share,” said Brandon Lorenz of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “It’s clear that in November, Minnesotans will hold Stewart Mills III accountable for accepting campaign help from the billionaire Koch Brothers, who laid off 140 Minnesotans in Duluth.”
Below is the tale of the tape:
Dem poll on 8th CD: Nolan widening lead on Mills [Star Tribune, 10/1/14] “A Democratic poll released Wednesday showed Democrat Rep. Rick Nolan leading his GOP challenger Stewart Mills by 11 points, and Green Party candidate Ray “Skip” Sandman garnering 7 percent.”
On Eve of Big Game, DFL Goes Hard After Stewart Mills for Being a Packers Fan [CityPages 10/1/14] “The DFL knows a news peg when it sees one, apparently. Today, mailers are hitting mailboxes throughout Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District making light of a story we broke back in June 2013 — Rick Nolan’s Republican challenger, Stewart Mills, is a Packers fan.
New DCCC attack ad against Mills goes after businessman’s wealth [Northland News Center, 9/29/14] “In a new attack ad, National Democrats are going after Stewart Mills’ wealth – again. In this new attack ad, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says if Mills is elected, he will give more tax breaks to millionaires.”
Democrats target Mills’ wealth — will it work? [MinnPost, 9/26/14] “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has led the charge on this front, pushing out two ads that follow a similar script. The ads, on which the DCCC has spent more than $1 million according to the Sunlight Foundation, accuse Mills of supporting tax breaks for millionaires while opposing them for most Minnesotans.”
Attack ads mock Stewart Mills’ wealth and hair style [Northland News Center, 9/23/14] “The attack ad by the DCCC replays a video clip of Mills fixing his hair, aiming to paint Mills as an out of touch aristocrat who is running for Congress….Joey Gerdin, a former staffer to President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign… adds that the Democrat’s strategy is effective, however.’Most political ads, that are well done, are low on substance. They are about emotion. They aren’t about anything else,” Gerdin said. “They have to be memorable. The fact is the DCCC has done a great job at branding Stewart Mills and what people will remember from that ad is that he is a one-percenter.’”
This is how you run a campaign add against a rich guy [Washington Post, 9/22/14] “This is hardly the first ad this cycle — or in any cycle — to target a candidate for his or her wealth and how it was obtained. But it is a particularly pitch-perfect entry into what is a fast-growing (and apparently effective) genre. And it’s all in the details.”
National Democrats join ad blitz in Minnesota U.S. House races [MinnPost 9/16/14] “In the 8th District, the DCCC took aim at businessman Stewart Mills for the first time, highlighting his personal wealth and his support for tax proposals the ad says would favor the rich over the middle class (Mills expanded on his views of taxes in an interview with me last month). The ad relies on footage of Mills fixing his notably long hair before an apparent television interview.”
GOP candidate’s spokesman’s sexist Facebook posts are SO offensive that a TV station can’t even share them [Northland News Center, 9/13/14] “Due to our station policy, we are prohibited to share the Facebook posts due to their inappropriate content. Some have described the Facebook posts of the Aurora miner as sexists and demeaning towards women.”
Rep. Nolan releases ad criticizing Mills for being out of touch with everyday workers [Northand News Center, 9/13/14] “In this ad, exclusively released to KBJR, a waitress says Stewart Mills is offended to pay his fair share in taxes. The waitress goes on to say Mills is opposed to raising the minimum wage, while Nolan supports women’s equal pay for equal work.”
DFL Ralliers Criticize Comments Made by Man in Mills Ad [WDIO, 9/12/14] “The DFL party held a small rally in Duluth’s Leif Erikson Park Friday to call on Republican Congressional candidate Stewart Mills to pull a TV commercial featuring an Iron Range man over comments the man allegedly made on Facebook.”
Star of Stewart Mills’s Latest Ad Has Off-Color Facebook Page [CityPages, 9/11/14] “….after seeing the footage, a tipster drew our attention to Biondich’s Facebook page, which contains at least a few posts belying the notion his support for Mills goes beyond party affiliation. Biondich’s page also contains other posts cringe-worthy in light of the hole the Republican Party dug itself in recent years with its so-called ‘war on women.’”
Group Protests Stewart Mills at Closed Plant [KQDS-DT, 8/13/14] “The plant was closed nearly two years ago by the Koch Brothers who protestors say made big donations to [Mills’] campaign. […] The protestors say Mills is out of touch with the people in Minnesota’s Eighth District. […] The Koch company employs about 100,000 people worldwide, and an employee said the Duluth plant was simply shut down because it was no longer profitable.”
Stewart Mills III Protest [KQDS, 8/13/14] “Protesters claim the [Koch] Brothers made big donations to the Mills campaign and say Mills is out of touch with the people of Minnesota’s eighth district. […] ‘Stewart Mills doesn’t care about that,” said Glenn Jackson, a former employee at Georgia Pacific. ‘He doesn’t care about jobs. All he cares about is getting the money from his rich friends.’”
DFL Rally at Georgia Pacific [KBJR, 8/13/14]“This rally marked the kickoff of the DFL’s ‘Personally Offensive’ Tour. The tour highlights Mills’ remarks from a 2013 speech in which Mills said, ‘we do a lot of things for this community and to be singled out as a deadbeat is personally offensive.’”
DFL kicks off “personally offensive” tour against GOP’s Stewart Mills [Northland News Center, 8/13/14] “DFLer’s are calling on Republican Congressional candidate, Stewart Mills, to explain his stance on the federal minimum wage and his comments on taxing the wealthiest Americans. […] The DFL claims those comments mean Mills finds it “personally offensive” for multi–millionaires to pay their fair share. … ‘There’s a lot of people who are going to bring in good jobs,’ said former Georgia Pacific employee Glenn Jackson. ‘Stewart Mills is not one of them. Stewart Mills – all he wants is the money – he doesn’t support minimum wage, he doesn’t support worker’s rights.’”
Protest Against Mills at Former Georgia Pacific Plant [WDIO, 8/13/14]“Koch Industries closed the plant almost two years ago. The DFL is trying to tie Republican congressional candidate Stewart Mills to the closure since the Koch Brothers gave money to his campaign. […] The DFL rally today protested the 140 jobs that were lost when the plant was shut down.”
Personally Offensive Tour” Day 2: Brainerd residents hold Stewart Mills III accountable for Boehner/Hubbard Fundraiser [LaborWorld.org, 8/14/14] “On August 14 Brainerd-area voters stood outside city hall to protest a private fundraiser for Mills III thrown by House Speaker John Boehner and billionaire television executive Stanley Hubbard.”
‘Personally Offensive Tour’ holds Stewart Mills III accountable for not knowing unemployment rate [DFL, 8/22/14] “Residents of the 8th Congressional District made a third stop in Hibbing today, holding Stewart Mills III accountable for not knowing the unemployment rate, even while the multi-millionaire opposes renewing emergency unemployment for those who need it the most.”
Hubbard Broadcasting’s decision to pull anti-Stewart Mills attack ad sparks controversy [CityPages 8/7/14] “But the question remains: Is the ad actually misleading? Raw footage of the speech in question makes clear Mills is indignant about wealthy “job creators” being portrayed as exploitative, selfish jerks. His remarks also establish that Mills believes society is best off when the rich can keep as much of their money as possible, the hope being they’ll invest it productively. So to the extent that’s the point the HMP ad makes, it’s tough to say their attacks are misleading.”