Campaign complaint filed against DFL House candidate Kim Hicks

Nov. 1—ROCHESTER — A Stewartville resident has filed a campaign practices complaint against state House candidate Kim Hicks, alleging that the DFLer is distributing materials that falsely portray Democratic congressional candidate Jeff Ettinger as running for "re-election" and giving him an unfair advantage in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

Roger Mueller writes in his complaint that Hicks, who is running in House District 25A against GOP Wendy Phillips, "knowingly" distributed campaign literature advertising that Jeff Ettinger was up for "re-election when he is not."

The complaint was filed Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, with the state Office of Administrative Hearings. The complaint has since been assigned to an Administrative Law Judge Jim Mortenson for review. He has three business days to decide whether the facts of the case warrant a hearing.

Mueller serves as chairman of the Olmsted County Election Integrity Group. The group recently sought the removal of 3,700 people from active voter rolls before the Nov. 8 election because of an alleged mismatch between Olmsted County voter history records with a national database of address changes.

Mueller said that he filed the complaint after being made aware of the alleged violation by another person.

"It's misleading," Mueller said. "If you see the word incumbent on the ballot or you hear the word incumbent, they have a better chance of winning.

"It's the law," he added. "People need to follow the law."

As part of the evidence presented to the state agency by Mueller is a screenshot of a Facebook posting on Hicks' campaign page showing her holding up a campaign brochure.

A red banner runs across the top proclaiming, "ON NOVEMBER 8 WE WILL RE-ELECT." Beneath the banner are a series of names framed in white, including DFL incumbent candidates Tim Walz, Peggy Flanagan, Keith Ellison, Steve Simon and Julie Blaha. Jeff Ettinger's name is included in the framing.

Ettinger, former CEO of Austin-based Hormel Foods, is a first-time Democratic candidate running against GOP Congressman Brad Finstad. Finstad defeated Ettinger in an August special election called after Rep. Jim Hagedorn died in office from cancer in February 2022.

Hicks called the complaint a distraction from the important issues on which Minnesotans are focused.

"This is an accusation made by someone outside the district. We believe the case will be thrown out," Hicks said in a statement. "We are running a campaign based on solutions. It's disappointing to see that folks are trying to stop real conversations, in the last week, about how we can create a better MN."

Mueller has requested the Office of Administrative Hearings expedite the case. There has been an increase in campaign complaints this election season, said Office of Administrative Hearings communications director Kendra Schmit, with more than 70 filed so far, more than twice the 20 to 30 that are normally filed.

The agency's website shows that campaign violations can be met with financial penalties of between $0 and $5,000, depending on the gravity of the violation.