Right now it appears the answer to that question is yes. Despite speculation that Kelliher would follow the precedent set by Matt Entenza and Marty Seifert, I’m told that the Speaker plans to keep the corner office at the State Office Building for the foreseeable future.
Other sources, however, tell me that while Kelliher currently plans to remain Speaker, these plans are not set in stone. There are some who worry that the House DFL Caucus will be handicapped as they approach to 2010 election without a Speaker to raise money and recruit candidates (I’m told that Tony Sertich has already agreed to run the Caucus campaign). Others worry that Kelliher’s gubernatorial campaign will suffer because her duties as Speaker will eat up time. On the other hand, Kelliher’s departure from House leadership would create two hotly contested leaderhip races. Current Majority Leader Tony Sertich is certain to run for Speaker if Kelliher leaves (opening up his position), but no one I talked to thinks he’d clear the field. I’ll have more on the succession possibilities in a post tomorrow, but these races could get ugly fast and rob the Caucus of the unity that will be critical as they try to keep their sizable majority.
One last bit of information is worth noting: Speaker Kelliher’s standing within the House DFL Caucus is still very strong. While many are disappointed with the outcome of the 2009 session, most members still have a lot of confidence in Kelliher’s leadership.
It is simply inaccurate to write:
“Despite speculation that Kelliher would follow the precedent set by Matt Entenza and Marty Seifert, I’m told that the Speaker plans to keep the corner office at the State Office Building for the foreseeable future.”
Are you saying that Kelliher intends to run for both her House seat and the Governorship if she gets the endorsement in 2010?
If you review the facts, you’ll discover that Entenza did not leave the minority leader position upon deciding to run for the AG position, but only stepped down upon securing the party’s endorsement in Rochester in 2006.
Wouldn’t it be more likely that she would follow the actual precedent set by Entenza in 2006 — which would be to relinquish the Speaker position upon getting an endorsement.
It’s simply not accurate to equate Entenza’s decamping as minority leader in 2006 with Seifert’s leaving his leadership post in 2009. The DFL caucus had approved the switch from Enneza to MAK in January, but it didn’t occur until after the convention.
This AP account, drawn from Nexis, is typical of the reporting at the time:
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
June 20, 2006 Tuesday 5:23 PM GMT
Anderson Kelliher moves up House chain of command
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL
LENGTH: 209 words
DATELINE: ST. PAUL
A new leader of Minnesota House DFLers is stepping up as the current leader campaigns for state attorney general.
State Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher of Minneapolis took over as minority leader Tuesday, succeeding Rep. Matt Entenza of St. Paul. If Democrats win a majority of seats this fall she would be the favorite to be speaker of the House.
Republicans and current House Speaker Steve Sviggum had a two-person majority last session.
Kelliher said House Democrats hope to pick up seats in the Twin Cities suburbs and rural Minnesota. She vowed to focus on reversing tuition increases at the state’s colleges and universities, expanding access to health care and reining in property tax increases.
“We’re optimistic about our chances of becoming the majority after November 7th,” she said.
At a news conference, Entenza took credit for bringing the Democrats within two seats of the majority and changing the state’s political climate. He’s the DFL-endorsed candidate for attorney general.
The power transfer was approved by the House DFL caucus in January, when Kelliher was named deputy minority leader. The Democrat grew up on a dairy farm near Mankato and has represented Minneapolis’ Lake of the Isles and Kenwood neighborhoods in the House since 1999.
I stand by my post. Kelliher’s plan as I understand it is to remain Speaker even after she gets the endorsement. That would be different than what Entenza did.
So MAK failed us as a Speaker and now we’re asked to promote her to the Governor’s mansion? And all the while she wants to keep the Speakership as a backup? Such half-hearted/half-brained “leadership” is exactly why we received a pummeling in the session. The DFLer can — and must — do better.
Margaret, No! Its a trap!
For her sake, I hope MAK follows very few of the Entenza precedents (although having a spouse who makes tens of millions of dollars wouldn’t be so bad).
I find MAK more of a legislative brancher than an executive brancher. She strikes me as someone more gifted at organizing a caucus than leading an entire state.
Still, her entry into the race is interesting. I would think that it comes down to her and Dayton, given the current field.
Still hoping Ramstad runs on the GOP (or IP) side. He’d be a shoe-in, according to my Democrat wife.
I just get a Roger Moe circa 2002 vibe from her. Here’s hoping somebody from outside the legislature gets the nod.
Hello: Speaker Anderson-Kelliher,
We need your help; please stop the Governor from taking the health coverage from the lowest-income adults in Minnesota.
We need our health coverage now more than ever. I am 68 Yrs of age and I cannot afford to retire. I am also finding
it very difficult to secure employment that covers health care.
Thanks & good luck,
Leon Wallace Jr