According to Darin Brotin, campaign manager for Democratic candidate Teresa Daly, the $250 contribution from Colleen Bertino, the owner of Minnesota-based Fantasy House Inc., was not in keeping with the candidate's views.
The Fantasy House novelty store sells adult sex toys, lubricants and leather and bondage materials.
Brotin said that Daly had recently launched a television ad campaign taking a hard stand on child porn. Daly is a city council member from Burnsville where the novelty store resides.
"We returned the contribution," he said. "We sent it back today. We've been talking about cracking down on child pornography."
However, the Daly campaign did not make moves to return the funds until the origin of the money was revealed in the press.
Daly's political opponent, U.S. Rep. John Kline, has so far had a field day with her misstep and has blasted Daly for her double standards and for funding her campaign with "dollars from Burnsville's largest pornographer."
The donation from the adult store was discovered this week when both candidates were required to file their final disclosure reports before the Nov. 2 election with the Federal Elections Commission.
According to the report, the donation from Fantasy House was received by the Daly campaign in the early part of October.
