Politics in Minnesota - Minnesota's Public Affairs News Service

More free Weekly Reports for the holiday weekend

Staff — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:18:15 -0600

Our new 2008 Minnesota House race pages have been been quite busy, so be sure to check out the latest additions, and please add your own news and comments to the districts!

New Weekly Reports have been posted for free:

Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 3, Issue 46 - 5/30/2008: In this issue: The Republicans In Rochester; Best Of The PIM Liveblog; Much More From Rochester; Carey: Criticism Part Of The Job; DFL's Brian Melendez Prefers To Stay Off Radar; Minnesota's 4th Congressional District; Bits & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch.
Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 3, Issue 47 - 6/6/2008: In this issue: The DFL Takes The Stage; Al Franken: The GOP Gift That Keeps on Giving (The View From Your GOP Publisher); Another Appeal To The Prurient Interest (The View From DFL PIM Staff); Post-Mortem For Mortifying GOP Meet; Dr. Shepard: International Man Of Mystery; MyWireless Spends Big On Anti-Consumer Legislation; Bits & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch.

The Morning Report 7/3/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:25:08 -0600

Top Story: Obama visiting Fargo-Moorhead; NYC mayor Bloomberg to boost Independence Party.

Publisher's Note: We won't be publishing a Morning Report, tomorrow, July 4. Everyone at PIM wishes all our readers a happy, patriotic and safe Fourth of July holiday with family and friends. And do respect and enjoy that 'Sewn in the U.S.A.' flag!

The Morning Report 7/2/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:21:22 -0600

Top Story: A time to pay: Star Tribune doesn't pay creditors; Sen. Coleman pays little D.C. rent; MN joins federal unemployment payment program.

Top Ten House Districts to Watch: Part I

Sarah Janecek — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:41:09 -0600

As the PIM team built our 2008 legislative campaign pages, we couldn't help but start to seriously consider how the races might shake out.

This last biennium, Democrats held a daunting 36-vote margin in the House, 85 Democrats to 49 Republicans. After this year's high profile transportation funding veto override (all 85 House Democrats plus six Republicans voted to override), the DFL House caucus has not been shy about letting everyone know the group wants DFL-proof veto-override powers. The magic number for the constitutionally required veto override vote is 90, two-thirds of the 134 House seats, which is only five more seats. House Democrats think they can pick up those seats this year, because of prevailing anti-GOP winds and the fact that in presidential years, Democrats do a terrific job of turning out the vote.

But Ben Golnik, political consultant to the House Republican Campaign Committee, vehemently disagrees. He is confident this season will bring gains for the GOP (perhaps even double-digit gains), citing vulnerable DFL freshman as prize GOP targets. A 19-seat gain would bring back the majority, and while it sounds unlikely, one need only look back to 2006 when the DFL gained 19 seats to steal the majority away. It can be done, says Golnik.

Ten seats which will receive considerable attention this year are the same House District races that were close in 2006. The tightest races were upsets of 8-termers Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Shoreview) and Rep. Greg Davids (R-Preston), whose races were ultimately decided by 26 voters. Krinkie, now President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, did not pursue endorsement at the caucus earlier this year. In fact, a primary is expected between endorsed candidate John Kappler [campaign site] and former two-term Senator Mady Reiter [campaign site] (R-Shoreview). Reiter lost to Sen. Sandy Rummel (DFL-White Bear Lake) in 2006 by 2,265 votes, however in the 53A side of her district Reiter only lost by 179 votes.

Davids is gearing up for a rematch with freshman Rep. Ken Tschumper [campaign site] (DFL-La Crescent). Mid-week, Tschumper still had not updated his website from 2006, but one assumes his message of, "We are not going to solve our problems if we keep re-electing the people already in office," will likely be tweaked a bit. [The fact that Davids doesn't have a website prompts the question: Which is worse? A website that is outdated, or no website at all?]

In 38A, Freshman Rep. Sandra Masin [campaign site] (DFL-Eagan) will be holding her ground against endorsed GOP candidate Diane Anderson [campaign site]. Masin ran against then-GOP incumbent Tim Wilkin in 1998 and lost by 2,176 votes. But every year since, Wilkin's DFL opponent closed the gap. Wilkin garnered 54.3% of the vote against Tom Weisbecker in 2000, 53.8% against DFL-endorsed Meg Tilley and Independence Party candidate Art Seaberg in 2002 and 52.4% against Christine Harbron in 2004.

This year will be the first time since 2000 that voters in district 25B will not see a Bly vs. Cox ticket. Rep. David Bly (DFL-Northfield), after two unsuccessful attempts, finally took out Rep. Ray Cox (R-Northfield). In 2002 Cox won by 46 votes, and in 2004 he won by a much more comfortable spread of 586 votes. Cox ran unsuccessfully against Sen. Kevin Dahle (DFL-Northfield) in a January 2008 special election for the seat left vacant when Sen. Neuville (R-Northfield) was appointed to the Rice County bench. Cox's website says he has, "grown weary of the spirit of politics that has developed in Northfield," and thus chose not to run for the House seat this year. Data from the special election likely influenced his decision as well: while he lost to Dahle by a total of 1,577 votes, he lost in HD 25B by 1,606 votes.

In 29B, Rep. Kim Norton [campaign site] (DFL-Rochester) will be defending her seat against Jason Johnson [campaign site]. As the chart shows, pro-DFL interests spent over four times as much as Norton's campaign itself spent, with the GOP interests not far behind. In 2004, Norton trailed Rep. Fran Bradley (R-Rochester) by only 311 votes. When Bradley retired in 2006 after 12 years of service, Norton squeaked ahead of Rich Decker to earn a seat in the 2007-08 Legislature. Johnson is a Ron Paulite and his recent post on a Ron Paul web forum detailing his need for funds can be found here. His campaign website shares that his August wedding will now be postponed - not due to the campaign, but to his wife-to-be's need for a kidney transplant.

We'll have more on the top House races after the Fourth of July holiday, but meanwhile, check out the table here detailing 2006's closest House races (PDF, victors are underlined, "Inc." stands for Incumbent).

[Thanks to PIM's Pam Steinle for the hours she put in researching the races.]

The Morning Report 7/1/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:22:07 -0600

Top Story: Legislative auditor investigates attorney general office's Hatch-negotiated deal.

The Morning Report 6/30/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:30:11 -0600

Top Story: Transit tax for five counties among measures taking effect July 1.

The Morning Report 6/27/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:35:34 -0600

Top Story: Norm Coleman's relationship with RNC's Jeff Larson under scrutiny.

The Morning Report 6/26/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:09:22 -0600

Top Story: MPR studies business groups' lobbying spending.

The Morning Report 6/25/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:22:32 -0600

Top Story: MnDOT responds critically to Gray Plant Mooty I-35W bridge report.

That Democrat Can Shoot

Sarah Janecek — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:41:50 -0600

The Democrat is former DFL state party chair and now SuperValu veep of government affairs Mike Erlandson.

And, he wasn't shooting guns, but rather, video.

Erlandson (smartly) got SuperValu to be a major sponsor of Will Steger's latest expedition and tied the expedition to the launch of SuperValu's new organic and natural food line, Wild Harvest. He was then invited to greet the expedition team (a group of 20-somethings from four countries) at the end of their 60-day trek across Ellesmere Island to highlight global warming. Before he left for the Arctic Circle, Erlandson called friend and colleague Rick Kupchella at KARE 11 and pitched borrowing a video camera to bring on the trip. The result was a lengthy piece that ran on KARE 11 last week.

Kupchella may have narrated the piece, but Erlandson wrote the questions, interviewed the team and shot all the footage. One of the people Erlandson met on the trip was Richard Branson, the swashbuckling British CEO of Virgin Group. Branson's son, Sam, was on the trip. Erlandson reports that he had a blast meeting everyone and seeing wolves, huge hares and other wildlife. One great quote from the online Kare 11 story from a young Canadian explorer, "[After 60 days in the Artic wilderness,] it's nice to be back to flush toilets and showers and salad." Salad?!

The Morning Report 6/24/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:22:31 -0600

Top Story: Midwest states unite for flood relief efforts.

The Morning Report 6/23/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:46:18 -0600

Top Story: Pawlenty veep speculation reaches fever pitch on heels of McCain visit.

Launching Today: PIM House Race Campaign Central

Staff — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:12:15 -0600

We're excited to announce our latest information resource: The Politics in Minnesota 2008 Minnesota House District Campaign Pages.

We know you will find it to be the most comprehensive House race guide available because we built it to be that way. For each House District page, we've incorporated the maps and district descriptions from the 2007-2008 Politics in Minnesota Directory. We added links to candidate web sites.

Most important, we added a place for everyone to post new news or comments about the race to each page. We're hoping candidates, other media and bloggers who write about races will add new information in this section. If anyone wants to add something without attribution, please send it to staff@politicsinminnesota.com and we'll post it for you.

Of course, to get a much better picture of each candidate's prospects, your best bet is to order the 2007-2008 Politics in Minnesota Directory, which includes election histories for each incumbent, the vote percentages for major candidates in each district and much more in addition to the maps and district descriptions below. Buy the Directory here.

Please note that the district maps and written descriptions are copyrighted. We encourage you to link to the pages, but printing them for dissemination requires the permission of the publisher. To get permission, write to staff@politicsinminnesota.com.

Also, please note that some incumbents do not yet have opponents. Candidate filings close July 15, 2008.

The Morning Report 6/20/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:26:01 -0600

Top Story: McCain raises money and talks issues in the Twin Cities.

The Morning Report 6/19/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:28:55 -0600

Top Story: Traffic plans and protests color RNC prep in St. Paul.

The Morning Report 6/18/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:32:01 -0600

Top Story: Pawlenty seeks federal disaster aid.

The Morning Report 6/17/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:26:40 -0600

Top Story: Franken takes on Iraq in TV ad; poll says Coleman has strong lead in race.

The Morning Report 6/16/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:21:22 -0600

Top Story: Flooding devastates Midwest towns, crops, businesses.

The Morning Report 6/13/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:18:13 -0600

Top Story: Transportation news - U agrees to on-campus LRT, federal aid for I-35W congestion.

The Morning Report 6/12/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:52:11 -0600

Top Story: MN Senate campaign gets started as first TV ads appear from Coleman.

Enterprise Minnesota

peterbartzgallagher — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:10:01 -0600

Start: 06/16/2008 - 16:30

End: 06/16/2008 - 19:00

Timezone: US/Central

Enterprise Minnesota, formerly Minnesota Technology, celebrates its new future at the Murray Herrick Center, Room 304, on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas.

Another Weekly Report, plus a blog!

Dan Feidt — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:01:11 -0600

We've just posted a new Weekly Report for you to check out:

Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 3, Issue 45 - 5/20/2008: In this issue: Happy End Of Session & Publishing Notes; House Retirements And The Lay Of The Land; A Final Gesture: Eloquent Ozment Saves Foreclosure Reform; Superdelegate At Large: Nancy Larson On The Spot - And Within The Dark Void Of Fox & Friends; Salvia Part II, Fictional Fiscal Note Edition: Save Money & Look Good By Expanding The War On Drugs For Free!; Ron Paul Revolution Everlasting!; Third Congressional District, Continued...; Bits & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch.

Also, we've added a new blog to our Minnesota Political Blog Directory: the Black Oil Blog run by the U.S. Energy PAC of Rogers, Minnesota. They're pushing politicians to generate more energy domestically, while criticizing ethanol for contributing to the jump in food prices.

Please send your blogs to staff@politicsinminnesota.com or use our handy contact form.

The Morning Report 6/11/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:21:00 -0600

Top Story: RNC protesters dispute route in court.

The Morning Report 6/10/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:27:10 -0600

Top Story: Al Franken kicks off general campaign for U.S. Senate.

The Morning Report 6/9/08 - Daily Minnesota Political Stories

Staff — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:28:43 -0600

Top Story: Franken endorsed by DFL, Feminist Caucus leader resigns, more from DFL Convention in Rochester.