A tech investor spent millions on ads opposing DFLers running for the Minnesota House and Senate 

A wealthy out-of-state tech investor was behind a surge in campaign ads against dozens of DFL candidates in key Minnesota House and Senate races in the weeks leading to Election Day. 

The $5.07 million in independent expenditures by Scott Banister and his First Amendment LLC paid for digital, mail and phone ads in 57 key races starting in September, according to Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board data. 

Banister, described in a Fox News report as a libertarian tech mogul and early investor in PayPal, SpaceX and Uber, accounted for the single-most outside spending – spending that is independent of candidates or their campaigns – in many races while in others he represented all o...