Senator's TV show puts him on defensive

State Sen. Satveer Chaudhary, who produces and hosts an outdoor-sports cable show, has cut sponsorship deals with a corporation and a union that have stakes in bills he pushed in the Legislature.

In a deal with Arctic Cat, Chaudhary purchased a snowmobile in January at a discount after he borrowed it for an episode of his "Born to be Wild" program.

Chaudhary, a DFLer from Fridley who is chairman of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, later unsuccessfully backed an amendment to require the Department of Natural Resources to purchase snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles only from Minnesota manufacturers. Arctic Cat is based in Thief River Falls, Minn.

The North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters spent $15,000 to be a sponsor of the series, Chaudhary said. In 2007, Chaudhary sponsored a bill to curb independent contractors in the construction industry. The bill, which passed, was backed by the carpenters council, which also has a political action committee.

"It smells awful," said David Schultz, an attorney and professor in the Hamline University Graduate School of Management who has studied and written about money in politics.

Schultz said: "He has got an intermixing of his professional life, legislation he is introducing, lobbyists and PACs -- and is mixing it in a way that he can't separate those roles out."

Chaudhary, who is an attorney and an avid hunter and fisherman, said he does separate his role as legislator from his new career as an outdoors show host. The show, broadcast weekly on The Sportsman Channel, features Chaudhary or guests on hunting, fishing and other trips.

He said the discount from Arctic Cat and the money from the union -- two entities with lobbyists -- didn't violate the state's ban on lobbying-related gifts, because his production company provided a service: advertising. He said rulings in other cases by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board support his view.

"I don't think I am walking a fine line," he said. "The only difference is that it is in the public eye because it is on television."

Arctic Cat and the carpenters council said their support for Chaudhary's show was strictly marketing. In return for lending and discounting a snowmobile, Arctic Cat will get exposure on the upcoming show and already has a spot on the show's website. The union said that many carpenters are outdoorsmen and that advertising on this season's shows reached carpenters who are nonunion.

"Our union members love to hunt and fish," said Kyle Makarios, political director for the carpenters regional council. "... Our members are for the most part working-class guys and tend to live in exurban and rural areas -- it is the demographic."

Makarios said Chaudhary approached the union council's marketing committee about sponsoring the show. "The people who are part of those decisions are not part of our lobbying team," he said. "Those decisions are made independently. There is certainly no quid pro quo going on."

At Arctic Cat, Chaudhary said, he approached Chief Executive Christopher Twomey about sponsoring the show. The company decided not to be a cash sponsor because the show had no track record, said John Tranby, marketing communications manager. As for Chaudhary's product deal, "if anything, it is a worse deal than a lot of shows get," Tranby said. "He paid almost full price."

Tranby said he knew nothing about Chaudhary's buy-Minnesota effort, which never got out of committee.

Chaudhary said he paid $8,500 for a model priced at a suggested $11,700 by the manufacturer, but selling for $10,330 at the dealership.

The senator said his track record on controversial motor-sports bills proves that he hasn't allowed the Arctic Cat deal to influence his job as a legislator. Arctic Cat also manufactures ATVs.

"If I was a kind of totally pro-ATV-riding legislator, that concern would be legitimate," he said. "I passed a lot of legislation that is pro-environment on the issue."

The Sierra Club in 2006 gave Chaudhary a 93 percent rating on environmental votes. Barry Babcock, a founder of the Jack Pine Coalition, which has fought to limit motor recreation on public lands, scores Chaudhary far lower. "He is not going to do anything for us," Babcock said.

Chaudhary offered different logic for why the $15,000 union sponsorship didn't affect his legislative votes. He said he has long been pro-labor, so the money couldn't change a thing.

"Nothing in my labor record reflects anything different than what I have done for the last 10 years," he said.

Schultz, the law professor, said the "fact that he has to go through gyrations of explanations suggests a problem."

Gary Goldsmith, executive director of the public disclosure board, said public officials are not prohibited from having business relationships with companies or organizations that lobby. He would not comment specifically on Chaudhary's situation, but said it may be "unique." However, the board would consider the matter only if someone files a complaint, he said.

Two other groups with interests in natural resources, Sportsmen for Outdoors Amendment and Ducks Unlimited, also have ads on the Born to be Wild website. Chaudhary said that they didn't pay any money to his company, and that he supports both groups.

David Shaffer • 612-922-2667