DFL in bitter clash with Senate candidate Richard Painter [View all]

Leaders of Minnesota’s DFL Party are in a heated feud with U.S. Senate candidate Richard Painter, a former Republican and ethics lawyer in President George W. Bush’s White House who is challenging Sen. Tina Smith in the upcoming DFL primary.

Party Chair Ken Martin called Painter “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” who refuses to say he is a Democrat. In an interview, Martin described Painter’s decision to run as “a craven act of desperation because [he doesn’t] fit in the Republican Party anymore.”

Painter said that he “won’t swear allegiance to a party” but would caucus with Senate Democrats if he’s elected and would vote for Smith if she beats him in the Aug. 14 primary.

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His campaign criticized Smith’s support for a land swap for the PolyMet copper-nickel mine, Trump’s steel tariffs and the repeal of a medical device tax.

Smith’s financial disclosure filing shows that she owns med-tech company stocks.

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http://www.startribune.com/dfl-in-bitter-clash-with-senate-candidate-richard-painter/489664251/