Baird Helgeson and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger
The cash-strapped Republican Party of Minnesota has been served eviction papers at its St. Paul headquarters.
State Republican Party Chairman Pat Shortridge notified GOP activists late last week that the party had not paid rent since last August. He said negotiations with the building owner did not prevent the landlord from taking the matter to court.
“We’re not going to be evicted,” Shortridge said in an email. He added that they are “continuing to negotiate on the back payments as well as on a lease that better fits both our space needs and our budget.”
The possible eviction is the latest blow for a state Republican Party that has been swamped with debt and financial problems for more than a year. Along with being more than $1 million in debt, state Republicans are being investigated by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board for inaccurate campaign reporting and have amended two years of filings to both the state campaign finance agency and the Federal Election Commission.
The problems, along with revelations about sloppy bookkeeping, prompted former GOP Chairman Tony Sutton to step down from his $100,000-a-year post.
Since Shortridge took over more than four months ago, the party has shed staff and began working to renegotiate with creditors.
“While this is a situation none of us wants, it's part of the rebuilding process,” Shortridge said last week. “No one ever said it would be simple or easy or without bumps along the way.”
The story was first reported by Politics in Minnesota.
Shortridge was not immediately available for an interview.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/148535875.html
