A competitive House race in Minnesota became more interesting after an independent candidate suspended his campaign and endorsed the Republican nominee.

Thomas Bowman, an independent running in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, said Democrats used him as a “pawn” to split the conservative vote.

The race in the suburban Minneapolis district features incumbent Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) and Republican nominee Joe Teirab.

Although Bowman endorsed Teirab, his name will remain on the ballot.

From the Associated Press:

Bowman was among several candidates recruited by the Patriots Run Project, which worked to install pro-Trump conservatives as independent candidates in at least eight key House and Senate races.

An AP investigation found an array of Democratic consulting firms and donors are secretly driving the effort, which used deceptive Facebook pages and websites to recruit candidates and funded efforts to qualify for the ballot.

“I certainly spent a lot of time and effort influencing the race as a pawn in this scheme here,” Bowman said.

The 71-year-old had been campaigning as a constitutional conservative.

The Washington Times reports:

In an interview with AP last month, Bowman said he suspected he may have been recruited by Democratic operatives hoping to reelect Craig and that he received nearly $20,000 in donations to gather signatures for ballot access. At that time, he said he saw nothing wrong with the arrangement.

Bowman said he changed his mind in part after learning one of the donors, Elizabeth Steinglass, had also given to Craig’s campaign. Steinglass and her husband, David, have given millions to Democratic political candidates and groups, and both have given the maximum this cycle to Craig’s campaign.

“Thomas is a true patriot for his willingness to boldly call out the dirty tricks that Angie Craig’s allies pulled in an attempt to interfere in the election,” Teirab said in a statement.

The Craig campaign said it had no involvement “with Mr. Bowman’s effort to get on the ballot.”

The Steinglass family, which has declined comment, and a number of other Democratic donors have given to other candidates recruited by the Patriots Run Project.

Some of the group’s recruits did not make the ballot, and Bowman is the second to drop out after realizing they had been manipulated.

 

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