Gov. Tim Walz is facing criticism for appointing two Democratic donors to the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents this week, including one who gave nearly $20,000 to his campaigns for governor and Congress. Walz’s appointment of Samuel Heins, a retired U.S. ambassador to Norway, has drawn particular concern from Republicans as well as some regent finalists who weren’t selected for a spot on the U’s governing board. Heins, a longtime lawyer, human rights advocate and alum of the U’s Law School, has given Democrats hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. He donated $11,000 to Walz’s gubernatorial campaigns, $8,400 to his past congressional campaigns and $25,000 to the Kamala Harris campaign after Walz joined the national ticket. “Samuel Heins is obviously a Democrat major donor,” said state Rep. Marion Rarick, the GOP co-chair of the Minnesota House higher education committee. “The optics are terrible. It looks like a pay-to-play.” Another one of Walz’s four regent picks, Ellen Luger, donated at least $3,450 to his gubernatorial campaigns, state campaign finance data shows. Luger is a former minister counselor for agriculture at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, with experience negotiating international agricultural policy. She also previously served as a trustee at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and is married to former U.S. Attorney of Minnesota Andrew Luger. Walz’s appointments to the board come at a critical time for Minnesota’s flagship university, which cut some academic programs and hiked undergraduate resident tuition by 6.5% earlier this summer. The U’s 12 regents serve unpaid, six-year terms and are tasked with approving major policies such as tuition increases and a multibillion-dollar annual budget. A spokesperson for Walz said in a statement Friday that the governor “appointed a highly-qualified, well-respected slate of statewide leaders to the Board of Regents.” “He has full confidence in their ability to tackle the challenges facing the University of Minnesota with integrity and dedication,” the spokesperson said.