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ST. CLOUD — State Senate candidate Joe Perske sees a formal complaint against him as a political smear tactic, he said Tuesday.

Perske is the subject of a campaign finance complaint filed Oct. 16. It alleges he broke state laws by accepting free, promotional airtime on a radio show and reusing campaign signs from former campaigns.

"The reused signs constitute a contribution from the old, congressional committee to the current, state Senate committee," according to the complaint, filed by Michael John Smith of Sartell.

Perske and state Rep. Jeff Howe are locked in an intense special election in District 13 that will determine the majority party of the state Senate. Both have disavowed negative campaign tactics and both have felt targeted by negative campaigning.

The Senate race has drawn nearly $240,000 in outside spending as of mid-September, according to the latest state Campaign Finance Board data.

RELATED:Crucial Minnesota Senate contest: Where the candidates stand on guns, refugees, more

Perske found the campaign finance complaint particularly disheartening.

"The Campaign Finance Board has a process, and we will respond to this frivolous complaint as appropriate," Perske said Tuesday. "Unfortunately this is a smear tactic of dirty politics to distract voters from the real issues they care about."

What's in the complaint?

Smith's complaint alleges Perske repurposed signs from his 2014 congressional run against U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer. It includes photos and states Perske's Senate campaign cut off the bottom of the old signs or pasted over references to "U.S. Congress."

"I'm a frugal guy. I cut coupons. I change my own oil," Perske said. "And I'm convinced the report will show there was no wrongdoing."

Perske is also accused of accepting an in-kind donation of 17 minutes of radio airtime when he appeared as the "Democrat of the Day" on Oct. 10 on AM 950, a "Progressive Talk Radio station" according to its website.

Howe said all candidates have to follow the same rules, but he didn't want to "pile on" Perske, he said Wednesday. "I don't want to win like that."

Who are the outside spenders?

Four groups spent nearly $240,000 in the Senate 13 race so far, according to the most recent independent expenditure data from the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.

Spending in support of Perske exceeded $125,000 and came exclusively from the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee. The money covered digital media expenses and TV ad production.

Nearly $113,000 went in support of Howe or against Perske. Those funders include Pro Jobs Majority, which spent about $49,500 and is affiliated with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

The Senate Victory Fund, which promoted the campaign finance complaint against Perske through emails to media, spent nearly $62,000 on digital ads for Howe and against Perske.

The fourth outside spender in the race is the Advance Minnesota Independent Expenditure Committee, which spent about $1,500 for Howe.

Updated campaign finance reports will be available next week.

Candidates push back

Howe and Perske said they'd never run a negative campaign against the other at a forum in Avon last week. That doesn't mean they've steered clear of controversy.

In a Facebook video, Howe claims Democrats want to turn Minnesota into a sanctuary state, a reference to a 2017 bill proposed by DFL Sen. Patricia Torres Ray.

"Those are facts," Howe said. "I'm not going after Joe. I'm just starting the facts of what the Democrats have proposed to do."

He's taken issue with one of Perske's campaign videos posted on Facebook last week. It bothered Howe so much he got up at 1:30 a.m. and looked up his votes on every bill, Howe said.

"Republican Rep. Howe voted to let insurance companies deny coverage for pre-existing conditions," read a frame on Perske's video with a reference to a 2013 bill.

Howe called it an "out-and-out lie" and said he supports coverage of pre-existing conditions and his vote on that bill was about rejecting MNsure, the state's health insurance marketplace.

"I've always tried to run a positive campaign," Perske said Tuesday. "I have no control over what people are saying about me, both good and bad. The people that know me, they want me to be their senator."

He sees the negative ads as a reflection of partisan politics, which he campaigns against.

"Dirty and smear politics to me is very sad. I'm very saddened by it," Perske said.

Despite the negative turns in the race, Perske feels good about his progress around the district. He's knocked on doors throughout District 13 and wore out a pair of shoes, he said.

The two are competing to replace Michelle Fischbach, who vacated the seat to become lieutenant governor last session and then chose not to run for the seat, instead joining Tim Pawlenty as his running mate in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

This happens in other races

Residents in House District 13A, which includes St. Joseph, Paynesville, Cold Spring and Kimball, are the targets of extra ads for that race and the Senate race, because both races are open.

Democrat Jim Read, who's running for the House in District 13A, hit the pavement like Perske and knocked on 8,000-plus doors. He, too, laments the influence of outside spending on his race against Republican Lisa Demuth.

Demuth and Read seek to replace Howe, who held that House seat for three terms.

RELATED:What to know about the House 13A race: Jim Read v. Lisa Demuth

The state chamber's Pro Jobs Majority  independent expenditure political committee spent nearly $13,000 for Demuth and against Read. It went toward print mailers and radio ads, according to Campaign Finance Board data.

Demuth distanced herself from any negative campaigning at the Avon forum last week.

Read hopes the negative campaign backfires and helps his name recognition. He also sees it as a vote of confidence.

"They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't think I had a chance of winning," Read said.

Nora G. Hertel: 320-255-8746, nhertel@stcloudtimes.com and on Twitter @nghertel.

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Source: https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/10/24/minnesota-senate-race-joe-perske-jeff-howe-complaint-money-negative-ads-finance/1749987002/

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