Where do the old signs go when the campaign is over?
If the signs belong to Republican Allen Quist's failed congressional campaign, they get recycled for a new state House campaign in the Mankato-area special election.
As noted by a local reporter covering the GOP convention where Quist was endorsed, the long time Republican activist simply taped over the "for Congress" portion of his signs and replaced it with "for House District 19a."
Julie Quist, the candidate's wife, said the use of the signs, which had been targeted for the trash before the special election popped up, will be considered an in kind gift from her to the Quist for House campaign. She said she asked Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board about the rules of the use of the signs after the issue popped up at the convention.
Quist said the fair market value of the signs -- there were five of them -- is about $5 total. The federal campaign has filed termination papers so the signs will be considered an in kind gift from her.
Campaign finance board executive director Gary Goldsmith confirmed that a state campaign can make a purchase from a federal campaign if it pays fair market value.
Allen Quist, who last served in the Legislature in the 1980s, has run for governor before and vied against Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Walz last year. Walz got 57 percent of the vote in that race to Quist's 42 percent.
