Speaking of #MN05, the one scheduled debate between Ilhan Omar and challenger Antone Melton-Meaux is at 1 p.m. today on WCCO Radio (there was a forum earlier this week, but not a debate).
Watch here: facebook.com/wccoradio/
Omar takes little time to get to Gov. Tim Walz's endorsement -- she mentions it in her first answer.
Pretty cordial so far. Melton-Meaux takes a glancing shot at Omar by saying Washington needs more leadership to fix a "toxic" atmosphere.
Omar responds that she's a progressive leader. She says not everyone who's endorsed her personally likes her, but respects her ability.
The third candidate in the debate, @JohnMasonMN, says the Democratic party's activist wing brings up a lot of major economic changes but "the movement in terms of getting things done is very slow. We’re not feeling it in the Fifth."
.@Antone_MN says @IlhanMN's $1 trillion "Homes for All" public housing push is unrealistic because it has few cosponsors, no funding mechanism, and no Senate companion bill.
“That’s not a progressive agenda. That’s simply a platitude," he says.
@Antone_MN @IlhanMN After a commercial break, Melton-Meaux faces a question about the GOP donors who've contributed to his $3.2 million second-quarter fundraising haul.
He says GOP donors who've given to him have also contributed millions to Democratic campaigns.
@Antone_MN @IlhanMN Melton-Meaux calls Omar's criticism of him "quite hypocritical" and “simply a desperate attempt to resurrect a campaign that’s in trouble."
He notes most of her donations come from outside the district, too.
@Antone_MN @IlhanMN NEW: @IlhanMN says her campaign paid her husband's consulting firm $600,000 in July for ad buys on TV and digital, lit from vendors.
"I don’t pay my husband. I pay the firm to do work," Omar said.
It's her first explanation of the payments seen here:
docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/…
The third candidate, @JohnMasonMN, is defending Omar and going after Melton-Meaux.
He says Melton-Meaux is benefiting from "dark money" and says “there’s a lot of spin happening with Antone that I’m concerned about."
Melton-Meaux says the criticism of his campaign funding is "ironic" because he doesn't have any campaign finance violations.
Omar was ordered to pay a small fine last year in Minnesota: fox9.com/news/rep-ilhan…
Melton-Meaux commits to doing 12 public Q&A town halls a year if elected, says Omar has never done one.
Omar says she's done 32 town halls.
The actual number is murky, as we reported last year: fox9.com/news/town-hall…
After defending Omar earlier in the debate, @JohnMasonMN says in closing comments that "in many ways, she’s Trump’s best dream” and “really the only one benefiting from Omar is Omar on lots of things."
She can't respond because it's the top of the hour and the debate has ended.
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