Gov. Tim Walz wants to force car dealers to sell more electric vehicles to combat climate change — yet he and other Minnesota Democrats are funded by an oil baroness.
Alida Messinger is the youngest daughter of John Davison Rockefeller III and ex-wife of former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat. She’s also an heiress of the Rockefeller fortune that was built on the back of the oil industry. Her father was the grandson of John D. Rockefeller who, at the peak of his wealth, was worth 3% of the U.S. GDP thanks to his monopolistic Standard Oil company.
For over a decade, Messinger has quietly supported Minnesota Democrats at the state and federal level, donating tens of millions of dollars to progressives and their causes. Her political philanthropy has made her Minnesota’s top individual political donor many years running. She also serves on the board of WIN Minnesota, a left-wing PAC.
So far this election cycle, she’s injected 1.8 million of her oil dollars into state and local races. The recipients of her generosity include Rep. Angie Craig, Rep. Dean Phillips, Rep. Betty McCollum, Gov. Walz, Secretary of State Steve Simon, State Auditor Julie Blaha, Attorney General Keith Ellison, the DFL, Planned Parenthood’s PAC and her own WIN Minnesota PAC. Bill Glahn examined public record and published the breakdown, detailing exactly how much each candidate or organization has received.
Ironically, all of these causes oppose the fountain of Messinger’s wealth: the oil industry.
Craig says she supports a “move to electric vehicles” that run on “renewable energy source[s],” provided that it occurs “over a period of time.”
Phillips wants to implement taxes contingent on carbon emissions to “tackle climate change.”
McCollum opposed the construction of Line 3, an oil project that replaced an existing line that was too old to be operated safely. The construction of Line 3 was originally ordered under the Obama administration, citing fears of an oil spill should an updated line not be laid.
The Walz administration created a radical mandate that will require 26% of all cars for sale in Minnesota to be electric by 2025, auto dealers say. Opponents of this mandate say Walz can’t fight the market, and forcing nearly a third of cars for sale to be electric will crush automakers and dealers who will have to keep huge stocks of unsellable cars to maintain compliance.
Simon’s press secretary sits on the board of directors for a group advocating politically for a “carbon-neutral economy.” Simon himself, as well as Ellison and Blaha, are in lockstep with the Walz administration, including its climate agenda.
The DFL itself is host to a green energy caucus that wants to force the state to run “100% carbon free” by 2040.
Planned Parenthood strives “to be more environmentally sustainable” as they offer their services, per a press release.
In 2011, oil baroness Messinger pointed out that Minnesota is “not a quality-of-life state anymore,” vowing to take a more public role by stepping out of the shadows. However, she has not commented on the current quality of life in the Land of 10,000 Lakes as consumers struggle to afford basic essentials under the Biden administration and crime continues to surge under Walz. “Citizens need to get involved and say we don’t like what you are doing to our state,” she said over a decade ago.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
