There were a number of firsts that occurred in the 1998 Governor’s race besides the My Three Sons Primary and the election of third-party candidate Jesse Ventura, In 1997, the Ted Mondale for Governor campaign took out, what is known as the First Paid Political Advertisement. It has been documented numerous times and at the time Mondale Campaign Manager Jim DeMay thought it was just a throwaway item. The ad ran for three months and cost $300.00. We later learn the ad bore fruit for Mondale when he collected campaign money out at a fundraiser in Silicon Valley.
Here is the article that ran in Wired Magazine entitled This Mondale Comes in First.