Playing With Fire: Hauschild Wrote Bill to Protect Campaign Donors for Starting Wildfires

Northland Senator Grant Hauschild is playing with fire. Wildfires are a too common threat to business and life in the Northlands that the rest of Minnesota literally saw when smoke from the North made its way across the state earlier this year.

Usually, Grant loves to play politics with wildfires and dish out blame. Most recently, he blamed the federal government for forest fires.

Then, he called for a man who started a large fire to be liable for $4.3 million in damages.

But there is oddly one thing Grant Doesn’t want to blame, and it’s a serious risk for starting wildfires: power lines.

When it comes to power lines, for some reason, Grant wants to legally shield them from accountability. In April of 2026, Grant authored and introduced SF 5106, a bill that would shield electric utilities from liability for damages from wildfires caused by their power lines.

Just one month after Grant introduced this bill, a wildfire was ablaze north of Two Harbors that burned 355 acres and destroyed 34 structures. Officials determined the cause to be from a power line. It’s notable that in response to this fire, Grant made a few social media posts thanking the firefighters and other public servants who worked to extinguish it, without any discussion of the cause of the fire.

It’s odd that someone as seemingly concerned about forest fires as Grant didn't jump at the opportunity to hold a company accountable for starting the fire. Perhaps the reason he is not in a rush to call out the utility can be found in his campaign finance reports.

Grant has so far received $13,650 in campaign contributions from individuals listing an electric utility as their employer. The donations to Grant have come from 12 different contributors, with multiple being executive-level staff at electric utilities. Did these contributions encourage Grant to shield the power companies?

When an individual starts a wildfire, Grant Hauschild says he should pay millions. When a utility power line starts one, Hauschild authored legislation to shield them from consequences. The difference between the two are an ability to donate.

The Northland deserves a Senator who won’t play politics with wildfires.