Archive for the 'Minnesota House' Category

Primary Victories

by
Aaron Landry
Published on September 10, 2008 at 2:11 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate, Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 11 Comments

Al Franken, Dean Barkley and Norm Coleman swept the primaries (results). Jeff Hayden won 61B by a landslide and in SD 16, Alison Krueger beat Mark Olson, which is great news for the GOP elitists that wanted to tell the people of SD 16 to go against the wife beater they endorsed. This is also a victory for those who don’t want abusive nutcases in public office (here’s a funny recap on that race that I figured I take a screenshot of before it goes away).

Analyzing primaries can many times be a fruitless adventure, but hey, why not? Here’s a couple numbers I found interesting:

While Priscilla Lord Faris got 29% of the vote, for some strange reason the amount of people that chose to vote in the DFL column was just shy of double that of the GOP. I think there are some people on the right that wouldn’t believe that DFLers in Minnesota outnumber GOP’ers 2 to 1. Who are all these people voting in the DFL slot?

As MNpublius postulated, Coleman barely got his 90%. While the other two columns had a number of choices, the only other GOP choice was Jack Shephard. What this means is that over 12,000 Minnesotans voted that a felon living in Italy who’s issues are “100% similar” to Al Franken would be a better choice for the GOP than Norm Coleman. Note that 6 years ago Coleman got 94% against him. This year it’s 91%. 

Can I safely say that almost 10% of Republicans would prefer a felon that’d vote like Franken that lives in Italy over a corrupt incumbent that votes with Bush that lives in Washington?

Probably not. The numbers are fun to look at though. Long story short, Franken, Barkley and Coleman swept.

UPDATE: Another way to look at the numbers: Al Franken received more votes than all the Independents and GOP candidates combined. Heh.

Moderates Need Not Apply: The Strib Updates the Status of the Override Six

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 25, 2008 at 10:38 am
, filed in Minnesota House
. 2 Comments

Lori Sturdevant had a must-read article in the Strib over the weekend updating the status of the override six:

In all, six House Republicans dared to part company with Pawlenty and GOP leaders over transportation funding. For voting to raise the gas tax 5 cents by October, the Override Six were vilified by Republican mouthpieces, stripped of caucus leadership positions and advised to brace themselves for rough treatment by Republican voters…

Two of the six chose to end their legislative service. One is running as an independent. (Stay tuned for a wild fall in Edina.) One, Rod Hamilton of Mountain Lake, was embraced by his district’s Republicans. They can’t understand why anyone would take issue with a vote to fix a highway on which too many of their neighbors have needlessly died.

I think there are a lot of people across Minnesota who have difficulty understanding why the MN GOP is hell bent on driving the moderates from their party.

The most interesting part of the story, however, is Sturdevant’s profile of the conservative challengers opposing Neil Peterson and Jim Abeler. Don Huizenga, Abeler’s opponent, is already well-known on this site, but Sturdevant introduces him to a broader audience:

Huizenga allowed last week that he’s known as the “Vote No” guy on school levy referenda in his area, and “that’s given me a bad rap.” He says he’s itching to be elected so he can revamp public schools to employ fewer teachers and put parents in charge. During last year’s levy campaign, he posted a blog item describing the student achievement gap as “evidence of differing intelligence among different races.”

Party at the S.O.B.!

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 15, 2008 at 4:51 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 17 Comments

Mark Olson is not running for reelection.  Just subtracting the total time wasted on his pointless amendments and floor speeches, the 2009 legislative session should be roughly six weeks shorter.  Even better, House staffers will no longer have to wear helmets while passing Olson’s office.  His 16 year reign of terror is over.

Some More Filing News

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 15, 2008 at 4:31 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 8 Comments

Thanks to a dedicated reader of MNPublius we found out today that Jon Olson, former President of the Minneapolis Park Board filed for the 58A house seat against incumbent Joe Mullery. Olson briefly ran for the 5th Congressional District seat in 2006. Peggy Flanagan, a friend of MNPublius was running a spectacular campaign against Mullery until she dropped out a few weeks ago citing her mothers health. Mullery is one of the last vestiges of the old Minneapolis North side political/labor machine and will be incredibly hard to beat. While it seemed to this not particularly impartial observer that Peggy had what it took to beat Rep. Mullery, I don’t know if Commissioner Olson does. We’ll pay attention to this race in September.

And as of 4:30 6 candidates have filed for the US Senate seat on the Democratic side: Al Franken, Ole Savior, Dick Franson, Priscilla Lord Faris, Alve Erickson and Bob Larson. We’re waiting with baited breath to see if there are any surprises in the next half hour.

Shortest. Campaign. Ever.

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 15, 2008 at 11:41 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate and Minnesota House
. 14 Comments

Priscilla, Lord Faris (stole that one from Mitch) announced yesterday that she would challenge Al Franken for the DFL nomination in the primary this fall. I was listening to MPR and heard Lord Faris say that she that she wouldn’t run if Franken was ahead of Coleman in the polls (I’ll post the audio clip if MPR puts it online).

Well, that day has come.

So, when will the Lord Faris announce her departure from the race?  She hasn’t filed as of this writing.

On another filing note, St. Rep. Mark Olson (R-Crazytown) has yet to file and its unclear if he plans to do so before the deadline this afternoon. Olson was expelled from the Republican Caucus late last year and was defeated at his endorsing convention this spring by former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer. Capitol staffers all across the S.O.B. are crossing their fingers and hoping that he calls it quits because the loquacious Olson adds at least two hours to every floor debate (and he once threw a piece of office equipment at a staffer in a fit of rage).

Confirmed: Erhardt’s Running as an Independent

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 10, 2008 at 8:46 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 43 Comments

Earlier tonight, I reported that longtime Republican State Representative Ron Erhardt plans to file for reelection as an independent.  Erhardt’s campaign has posted a statement confirming the news on his campaign website:

On the Fourth of July, Ron declared Independence. He has decided to run for re-election as a Moderate Independent. From his years as a political organizer and then as a State Representative, Ron knows that Edina doesn’t want partisan bickering but does want a common sense voice in the State House. So, he is running for re-election to continue representing the social moderate, fiscal conservative voice of Edina, independent of the tyranny of party extremes.

Erhardt is the second most senior member of the House Republican Caucus, behind retiring Rep. Dennis Ozment. Earlier this year, Erhardt was denied the Republican endorsement, primarily due to his vote to override the Governor’s veto of the transportation bill.

Erhardt represents Edina in the legislature. Long thought to be a Republican stronghold, the suburb voted for John Kerry in 2004. With Erhardt and endorsed Republican candidate Keith Downey splitting the conservative vote, DFL candidate Kevin Staunton now has an excellent chance to pick up this seat.

Rasmussen: Tie Ballgame!

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 10, 2008 at 10:15 am
, filed in General and Minnesota House
. 8 Comments

UPDATE: Wow.  I am embarrassed.  This isn’t a new poll at all.  Rasmussen put up a new article republishing old poll results because of the flurry of Ventura news.  I didn’t read the story carefully enough.  Apologies for the error.

Rasmussen has their latest poll of the Senate race in Minnesota.

Coleman - 48%
Franken - 45%

Just goes to show that the MN GOP’s attacks might get a lot of attention, but they have little effect.  Could it be, for once, that the voters are more interested in the issues than the slime?  (gasp!)

Adding Jesse to the race creates, well, a three way race:

Coleman - 39%
Franken - 32%
Ventura - 24%

I am not convinved he’ll run, but it would be a race for the ages.

I Am Phyllis Kahn’s Campaign Manager

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 9, 2008 at 1:31 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 12 Comments

I have accepted an offer to be Phyllis Kahn’s campaign manager.  This will be a volunteer position and the total recompense I can imagine from this position is a meal or two (she is a fantastic chef).  I will not post about this race; if for some reason I do, I will include a clear disclaimer on the post.

I have known Representative Kahn for the last four years, she is my local representative and I served as her ‘campaign manager’ in 2006.

The first time I ever met Representative Kahn I was absolutely blown away, while living around the world my father would keep up with the local political news in Minnesota and I kept hearing about this woman (the word “communist” came up several times in spittle flecked rants) and to finally meet her and find out that the hammer and sickle was not tattooed on her forehead was just mind blowing.  Since then I have grown to admire Representative Kahn’s legislative wear withal, her top shelf mind and I can’t not support a legislator whose life long record of thoughtful service has caused her name to become a pejorative among Republicans in Minnesota.

Deep Thoughts with Don Huizenga

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 2, 2008 at 4:24 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 105 Comments

Override Sixer Jim Abeler was denied the endorsement of the Republican Party at two separate nominating conventions.  At the second convention, Abeler was opposed by a man named Don Huizenga.  Abeler and Huizenga will square off in a primary battle this fall.

I don’t know a whole lot about Don Huizenga, but a commenter on a previous post pointed me in the direction of this message board.  Its a Topix Forum created so people could discuss the Anoka-Hennepin School District Levy.  A person posting under the name Don Huizenga left some mighty interesting comments that give us some insight into what might be his legislative priorities.  I called Don Huizenga to verify that these were in fact his comments.  He confirmed that he made the comments and stood by their content.

Your statement that generations get smarter as over time is ludicrous. There is no factual evidence of that. There is evidence of differing intelligence among different races, but not generations.

I sure hope you arent going to teach our kids…

And I sure hope you aren’t elected to the House.  More Huizenga…

Take us back to the 50’s, please…

It may have been a bit prudish, but whats wrong with that, compared to what we have today?

I can think of many things that were wrong with the American educational system in the 1950’s.  Segregation, for one.  Don also seems to be a Katherine Kersten fan…

BTW…the majority of the social items (pc ness, etc…) you named are all products of the liberal mentality that has run rampant through our schools. We have Muslim foot baths in our colleges in MN, but we cant say Christmas. Thank you Democratic liberals…

Anybody else notice a trend?  Also, Don likes Katherine Kersten, but doesn’t have much respect for public school teachers:

I just wish people in the public sector would learn to work harder, be more efficient with their time,(teachers…NOT take vacation during the school year…THAT still amazes me!), etc, etc, etc. I think a third grade teacher should be just that, I third grade teacher…no para, no assistants, no nothing. The job isnt that tough. MANY teachers have done that job for YEARS alone, why cant they do it now?

I beg to differ.  Being a public school teacher is a tough job, particularly when Republicans in state government are undercutting you at every opportunity.

Jaros to Retire

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on June 16, 2008 at 7:49 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 1 Comment

The Duluth News Tribune reports that Mike Jaros, the third most senior member of the Minnesota House, has decided to retire.  Jaros represents portions of Duluth, one of the most solidly Democratic districts in the state.  Amy Klobuchar won 75% of the vote in his district in 2006, so this is a safe seat. I worked for Rep. Jaros when I was at the Capitol, he is a terrific public servant and Minnesota has been lucky to have him for so long.  Good luck in your retirement Rep. Jaros!

(H/T Aaron Brown)

Madore: Not On My Watch

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on October 23, 2007 at 12:19 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 12 Comments

Rep. Shelley Madore was one of several DFLers elected in 2006 from traditionally Republican suburbs. She’s a first rate public servant and the people of Apple Valley are lucky to have her.

This video has been sitting in my inbox for about a week now (law school has been beating me up these past few days), but its footage from transit forum held in Apple Valley a little while ago. Madore makes the case for a new investment in transportation and its well worth a watch.

Its also satisfying to see a constituent put Sen. Chris Gerlach (an opponent to transportation investment) in his place at the beginning of the video.

Pfeilsticker Wins!

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 24, 2007 at 11:15 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 5 Comments

If you’ve ever been curious as to how full of elephant poo Mike Michael Brodkorb is, look no further than this post…

I’ve spoken with a few Democrats down in HD 28B and this primary could be close.

Ladies and Gentleman with nearly 90% of the vote — 

LINDA PFEILSTICKER WINS!

Let me make this perfectly clear. I am not saying that with 90% of the vote reported, Linda Pfeilsticker wins the primary election; I’m saying that Linda Pfeilsticker recieved nearly 90% of the vote in 28B in the primary election!

But we aren’t done yet. To make Michael Brodkorb eat his words, and to give Marty “Smarmy” Seifert one less seat Linda Pfeildsticker needs your help in the general election!!

Contact her campaign here.

She needs your support. I’m hoping to make it down this weekend to doorknock for her, if I can’t I’ll spend a few nights next week phone banking for her. The change we advocate for, the change we want to see needs action, not just words on a blog. Contact the Pfeisticker campaign and volunteer just a few hours, it could make the difference.

 

My Last Day

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 20, 2007 at 4:30 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 30 Comments

Today was my last day at the House DFL Caucus. I am leaving to attend law school at the University of Virginia.

When I returned to this blog in February, I said I wouldn’t be blogging about the Legislature while they were in session. Though we’re been out of session for two months now, I have tried to avoid writing about the Legislature (except for a few posts about Legislative endorsements). Anyway, I’m unemployed now so all bets are off!

Republican Party to Draz: Don’t Stand So Close To Me

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 16, 2007 at 12:16 pm
, filed in Minnesota House
. 22 Comments

draz_home_photo.jpgSteve Drazkowski, Republican endorsed candidate to replace Steve Sviggum has quite the personal endorsements page.

It doesn’t have much in the way of Republicans on it, at all!

“Congrats!!! We are all thrilled to hear you won, clearly the voters down there know a good candidate when they see one! Our thoughts and prayers are with you! God Bless.” - Sue Jeffers, candidate for Governor

Sue Jeffers was running as a libertarian last year when she attempted to run for the Republican endorsement. The Republican party refused to consider her.

“I’m more convinced each day that Steve Drazkowski will make a great State Senator... Draz’s courage in standing up to… the poor judgment of his own political party demonstrates what we all should look for in our leaders.” - John Adams (Former Republican Party State Vice Chair )

While this guy may have been a ‘former Republican party State Vice Chair’ I have a hard time believing he’s on the ins when he refers to the “poor judgment of his own political party” As well, Draz, you might want to update your quotes, FYI you aren’t running for State Senator any more.

But, this is going to be a hard fought race! Where are the endorsements from Tim Pawlenty? Marty Siefert? Or, most importantly, Steve Sviggum?

Finally, there is one quote the Draz-ster isn’t going to put up anytime soon.

“(Drazkowski) is a guy who’s just disgruntled. He makes me nervous, but what do you do?”
 — Sen. Dick Day (R-Owatonna)

We’ll have more on this guy. Lots more.

Tom Rukavina Tells The WSJ Where To Shove It

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 12, 2007 at 8:28 am
, filed in Minnesota House
. 45 Comments

05a.JPGOn the 6th The Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial excoriating Representative Tom Rukavina (subscription req.) for the bill he introduced and passed last session banning the importing of American flags.

Patronizing would not be the right word to describe the editorial.

“In St. Paul this week, the legislature passed a law making it a misdemeanor to sell a non-made-in-the-USA flag anywhere in the state. “Nothing is more embarrassing to me than a plastic flag made in China,” declared Tom Rukavina, who sponsored the bill.

Actually, we can think of several things more embarrassing, starting with Mr. Rukavina. Under the Minnesota flag law, violators could be subject to a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail. So under Mr. Rukavina’s patriot gaming and thanks to the Supreme Court’s 1989 decision in Texas v. Johnson, Minnesotans will be able to legally burn an American flag made in America, but could go to jail for selling one made in Shanghai. Splendid.”

Shucks, why don’t you call him Tommy “The Commie” Rukavina while you’re at it.

Read Representative Rukavina’s response below the fold.
Continue reading ‘Tom Rukavina Tells The WSJ Where To Shove It’