A Brooklyn Center man who will appear on ballots this fall as the “Constitutional Conservative” Party candidate in Minnesota’s Second Congressional District has told a national media outlet he believes he was recruited to run as a third-party “spoiler” candidate for Democrats in one of the nation’s most closely watched U.S. House elections.
The Republican challenger in that race, Joe Teirab, is calling the act “blatant election interference” orchestrated by political allies of Democratic incumbent Angie Craig.
Thomas William Bowman, 71, filed his affidavit of candidacy with the Minnesota secretary of state to run for the CD2 seat on June 4, the last day a candidate can file for U.S. House in Minnesota.
Over the next 10 days Bowman—who has no history of seeking elected office—received six max donations ($3,300) from out-of-state donors. State law requires all minor party and independent candidates for Congress to submit a nominating petition that includes 1,000 signatures of eligible Minnesota voters supporting the candidate’s request to be placed on the ballot.
In an email exchange with Alpha News on Tuesday, Bowman confirmed that he was recruited to run for the CD2 seat and indicated that those who recruited him also helped him obtain the petition signatures.
The candidate told the Associated Press in the Sept. 16 story that he believes he was recruited to play spoiler in the race between Teirab and DFL incumbent Angie Craig. The report says Bowman and a handful of other fly-by-night candidates in other states were recruited the Patriots Run Project to run independent spoiler campaigns in swing district U.S. House races.
Alpha News has reached out to the secretary of state’s office to request confirmation of the date that Bowman submitted his nominating petition and accompanying signatures. Bowman told Alpha News he submitted his nominating petition and required signatures in July and was told just days later that his signatures had been accepted and that his name would appear on the CD2 general election ballot. Bowman, Teirab and Craig are the only candidates who will appear on the ballot for that race.
On Tuesday, Teirab, a first-time candidate for office who is a former prosecutor and military veteran, said the nature of Bowman’s candidacy “reveals blatant election interference in MN-02 by a Democrat-aligned shadow group in order to tip the scales for Democrat incumbent Rep. Angie Craig.”
“Career politicians like Angie Craig know they can’t run on their record of failures, so they have to rely on dirty tricks in hopes of deceiving voters—but this is a new low,” Teirab said. “This report is disturbing and shows Democrats will stop at nothing to protect one of their own, even if it means interfering in the election.”
A spokesperson for Craig said the campaign first heard of Bowman’s candidacy when he filed with the FEC in April. “The campaign has no knowledge of how he got on the ballot,” the spokesperson said.
Democratic-aligned organization helped candidates obtain petition signatures
The Associated Press story says that entities connected to Nevada-based Sole Strategies helped with signature obtaining efforts for some of the candidates that Patriots Run Project recruited. The Associated Press reports that the candidates are all “far-right” in their politics. On its website, Sole Strategies describes itself as a Democratic-aligned organization. Its staff are based in 11 states, including Minnesota.
“They got me on the ballot,” Bowman is quoted in the story. “If I had to do that all by myself, I couldn’t do it.”
While Bowman doesn’t have a campaign website and lists himself as his own campaign treasurer, he received $19,800 in campaign donations in June, according to a recent Federal Election Commission filing. Bowman filed his FEC paperwork on April 25. He lists a home in Brooklyn Center on his statement of candidacy. He purchased the home in December 2023. On May 8, Bowman took to social media to update the cover photo of his Facebook page, which features a map of Minnesota’s Second Congressional District.
Bowman’s campaign revenue consisted of six separate $3,300 donations from individuals living outside Minnesota, at least three of whom have a history of giving to Democrats:
- Lynn Brody of New York on June 3
- Elizabeth Steinglass of Washington, D.C. on June 4
- Joseph Groves of Massachusetts on June 5
- Richard Thompson of Wyoming on June 5
- Joe Fox of Virginia on June 14
- George Snelling of Washington on June 14
Each of those donations were listed as “in kind,” which according to the FEC’s definition are “non-monetary contributions. Goods or services offered free or at less than the usual charge result in an in-kind contribution.”
When reached by phone Tuesday, Bowman told an Alpha News reporter “you have the wrong number,” and then ended the call. He did, however, answer questions via email. When asked how he collected the 1,000 signatures required to get on the ballot, Bowman answered, “Assisted, see FEC filing.”
Bowman also told Alpha News, via email, that he first decided to run for Congress in June, even though his Federal Elections Commission statement of candidacy was signed on April 25.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
