State Sen. John Howe is not happy that his party owes Minnesota counties thousands of dollars and hasn't responded to his offer to help pay some of the debt.
"This is embarrassing and painfully indefensible," he wrote to fellow GOP senators. "This damages us not just on the local level, but statewide as well. It is spreading through the political blogs, and must be a reason for much head shaking in water cooler conversations."
The Red Wing Republican said he asked GOP party leaders about resolving the debt a month ago. He offered to help pay it personally, through various GOP campaigns or even by holding fundraisers.
He never heard back.
"Unfortunately, the party laundry is being aired," Howe said in an interview Monday. "This is an issue that needs to be resolved immediately."
The Star Tribune reported a week ago that the state GOP still owes money to about one-third of the state's counties for work performed leading up to the 2010 gubernatorial recount.
At the time, 30 counties are owed a total of $27,115 for work processing data requests for the party, according to the GOP.
State party Chairman Tony Sutton said they are picking away at the bills as they can, paying off several each week.
