A prominent gay rights organization is sending a chunk of money to liberal groups in Minnesota to offset Target's controversial donation to a pro-Tom Emmer political action committee.

The Human Rights Campaign, based in Washington, D.C., will donate $100,000 to Win Minnesota, a PAC that helps fund anti-Emmer TV advertisements. They will toss another $20,000 to OutFront Minnesota, a GLBT group, and $30,000 to individual candidates -- including DFLer Mark Dayton.

Dayton is expected to attend HRC's annual Twin Cities dinner Saturday night at The Depot Minneapolis Hotel, along with Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar.

"With all of our success in corporate America, we found ourselves at a crossroads recently during HRC's dispute with Target and Best Buy," HRC president Joe Solmonese said in prepared remarks. "It wasn't easy and it certainly wasn't on our list of things to do, but it was the right thing to do."

He added that "the eyes of all fair-minded Americans, and specifically those in the LGBT community -- will be on Minnesota on election day."

HRC had previously pressed Target to make their own comparable donation to gay rights groups, but the company declined.

"Given the current political and emotionally charged environment, we have concluded that it is best to wait before taking further external action regarding our MN Forward contribution," the company said in a statement last month. "We believe that it is impossible to avoid turning any further actions into a political issue and will use the benefit of time to make thoughtful, careful decisions on how best to move forward."