Here at MPP, we've been following Hal Kimball's bid to replace retiring moderate GOP State Senator Steve Dille, who served for 24 years with distinction. As Joe Bodell noted back in December:
I've said it before and I've said it again -- the DFLers cannot afford to be complacent about the State Senate, where several senior members of the caucus are getting close to retirement age. We need to keep up the pressure and elect great people like Hal to seats just like this one -- and don't be fooled about whether he actually has a shot. He does, and it's a good one. (emphasis added)
Especially with the GOP's decision to endorse Scott Newman for this open seat. Newman's running hard to the far right under the "Personal Responsibility - Individual Freedom - Less Government" banner. For instance, Newman's a guy that wants to get rid of "business subsidies" - as noted by Bluestem Prairie:
The first call that I received this morning was a friend in a true huff. She does not like going to the State Fair bathrooms to do her business only to have the "smiling" face of "Peeping Tom" Horner peering down on her. She wrote the campaign. She is calling her political friends. So I am wondering how long before tape is put across the Tom Horner face on the picture or the graffiti of "Peeping" Tom shows up. For a candidate who specializes in media, this seems like a media blunder to me.
While I have worked at the highest level of our party, across many campaigns for both issues and candidates, this is the first time that I have contributed all of my volunteer efforts for one candidate - Matt Bostrom for Sheriff. My colleagues have urged me to give you an inside look at what that kind of volunteering is like.
In this volunteering, the most important feeling comes from this campaign being a most important cause - a cause worthy of dedicated volunteer effort. Matt Bostrom is that type of candidate. We needed a candidate with a great record that the opponent would have no traction on attacking. Matt Bostrom has 28 years of experience with the St Paul police in multiple leadership roles, with great projects and great awards. For example, Matt Bostrom won the 2009 Preparedness Award by the Association of Minnesota Emergency Responders his organizational skills and demonstrated fiscal responsibility. In addition to being a great police officer, Matt Bostrom has great speaking skills and the ability to talk to everyone. And most importantly for me as a progressive, Matt Bostrom has great character and integrity.
In high contrast, our incumbent opponent Bob Fletcher has over 16 years of experience, with a record that should remove anyone from office, which I summarized from news sources. Bob Fetcher's pet project, the Metro Gang Force, that he touted on his campaign for years, was so bad that it was disbanded. His management of the jail is so bad that a young person died from not receiving insulin medication when the mother had personally brought the medicine to the jail and explained how important it was. Bob Fletcher sued the county government so he would have the privilege of over spending his budget as much as he wants, which he does. But the whole truth is worse, much worse. As a known citizen journalist, people come to tell me stories about Bob Fletcher that they are not willing to go public with - just so someone knows. What is publicly published is only the tip of the iceberg. There is huge dam of information waiting to break. This knowledge makes this campaign, a peace and justice mission of the highest importance. We should have never allowed this to happen here in Ramsey county. So everyone on this campaign has this sense of an important mission.
The reason that Bob Fletcher is able to get away with so much is that the sheriff is a low visibility office, which the media ignores. In fact, Bob has cultivated the media with favors so his press releases are not critically examined. Those press releases are frequently re-published as news articles. This year, news staffs are cut so deeply that only the governor's race is getting coverage. So the only people who really know about Bob Fletcher's record are active in local government and local politics or follow local politics closely. And in this case, the incumbent is so bad, that it has motivated people from both parties, DFL and GOP, to work together. It has attracted people who do not care about any other campaign or any other politics, over 120 endorsements so far. We have dedicated peace advocates working with dedicated gun-carry advocates. Never before have I seen such a diversity of political causes and views on one campaign.
Now for the best part, after the fold are some personal stories based on the diversity of the campaign.
John Harrington won in a 9 way primary race to become the DFL endorsed candidate for Senate District 67, the east side of St Paul. Tonight was the official endorsement of the DFL, since the primary win does not automatically grant the DFL endorsement. Previous very popular State State Senator Mea Moua was there to cheer on John Harrington, as well as Mayor Chris Coleman and other public officials.
John Harrington spoke before the endorsement of
encouraging business, especially small business to thrive on the east side so there would be more jobs
working with all of the diverse communities
the St Paul police effort to reduce crime
working with the Democratic leadership and consulting with Mea Moua
his shared values with the Democratic party
recognition of all the hard work that went into this primary
Every delegate who could vote for endorsement came and no alternates were upgraded. There were about 25 additional people there. The vote was 23-4 for endorsement.
...what do you do, and how do you square it with the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court Case?
Reason I ask, is I saw the following tweet from the current stooge running the cut 'n paster over at Brodkorb's Blog:
@LukeHellier It's refreshing to see a group endorse candidates from both partied while @ABetterMN, EDMinn, & the rest stick to DFLers. Thanks @MNForward 34 minutes ago via UberTwitter
- The DFL's superior ground game in this area. Here in conservative Princeton, the Dems have a campaign office right on a corner of the main downtown intersection. I've already had a doorknock and two phone calls from DFL volunteers; nothing from Republicans. It worked in 2008, and it can work now.
- The far-from-compelling candidacies of her opposition: Republican Dave Brown and Patrick Munro of The Conservative Party of Minnesota. Based on their websites, both are the sort of doctrinaire conservatives whose jobs, if elected, could easily be done by machines. And in a complex, changing world, that doesn't cut it. A greater percentage of the electorate realizes that, with each passing election. They just have to be convinced to vote.
It would be easy to demonstrate GOPer fiscal duplicity, starting with D*ck (cheneyin') Cheney's infamous quote: "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter." That, of course, was "then." Now that Democrats are in charge, well, it is - of course - "now" and to GOPers these days, Deficits Matter*.
Rather than go through all that GOPer duplicity, I'm going to focus on a race demonstrating not only today's GOPer race to illogical "ideological" purity, but fiscal irresponsibility as well - not to mention the DFL's best chance (IMNSHO) to turn a state senate seat from "red" to "blue." It is Minnesota Senate District 18; an open seat due to the "retirement" of longtime State Senator Steve Dille. Dille is one of a vanishing species - a "moderate" republican that today's GreedOverPrinciples types refer to as a "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) as clearly stated by GOP 2008 Candidate and current GOP State Exec Vice-Chair, Bill Jungbauer:
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Rino's among us
By Bill Jungbauer
Yesterdays vote on the bill containing a five cent gas tax increase was a disappointment because several Republicans voted yes.
In the Senate we have these RINO's,
Dille (Dassel) sen.steve.dille@senate.mn Frederickson (New Ulm) sen.dennis.frederickson@senate.mn
Gimse (Wilmar) sen.joe.gimse@senate.mn
Jungbauer (East Bethel) sen.mike.jungbauer@senate.mn
This last one causes me great shame. He is of no known relationship to me.
(emphasis added)
Last night I caught up with Katie Rodriguez, who's running for the State House of Representatives in district 32B (Maple Grove). A public finance expert and involved community member, she's brought a ton of energy to recent DFL campaign efforts in the west Metro, and this cycle she's taken the leap into running her own.
Bottom line: K-Rod rocks. She has a tough row to hoe -- Maple Grove has historically not been fertile ground for DFLers at the state level, and her opponent is incumbent Rep. Kurt Zellers, who will probably have the House Republican Caucus working hard for him in September. But Team Rodriguez has officially completed their "first pass" through targeted voters in their doorknocking efforts, having visited 11,000 households across the district so far.
There's already been a few political games being played -- in a recent Facebook post, she noted that "the MN GOP sent a Freedom of Information [request] to my previous employers to snoop around" ... in cases like this, it's almost too bad that FOIA requests don't force the requestor to publish all information they receive, so Katie's previous employers could send back great stuff about her expertise in public budget management and ensure that those missives were published in their entirety by the GOP.
In any case, the party opposite is clearly taking her challenge seriously. Nevertheless, Katie told me the response she's been getting from voters has been great, and that's good news both for her campaign and for Maple Grove.
The link to her campaign site is above -- if you're in the area, I strongly encourage you to get connected to and involved with Katie's campaign.
Foung Hawj (Hew) is one of nine candidates running for the Minnesota state house seat on east side of St Paul, Senate District 67. The nine candidates running in the DFL primary race have many excellent choices, with no DFL endorsed candidate.
I find interviewing people to be my most fascinating work. And Foung is one of the most interesting interviews that I have had. I am presenting the parts of the interview that you are not likely to get elsewhere.
I have been an Assistant County Attorney for over 8 years, prosecuting crimes affecting the most vulnerable in our society. I can say from firsthand experience that it takes a special kind of person to successfully run a large office of prosecutors. Former Saint Paul City Attorney and candidate for Ramsey County Attorney John Choi is a leader who has those types of management skills.
You do not have to take my word for it. I am happy to share that some of the most prominent chief prosecutors in Minnesota have now endorsed John. This distinguished group includes Vice President (and former MN Attorney General) Walter Mondale, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson, Former US District Court Chief Judge (and former MN Attorney General) Miles Lord, Former MN Attorney General Mike Hatch and Former MN Attorney General Warren Spannaus.
Here is what Vice President Walter Mondale recently said, "John Choi has the experience and integrity to be an outstanding Ramsey County Attorney. He will aggressively fight crime, especially domestic abuse and gang violence, while taking innovative steps to prevent crime. I strongly support him for Ramsey County Attorney.
In addition, John has also been endorsed by Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, Former U.S. Attorney Tom Berg, Former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger, Former U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug, Former Hennepin County Attorney Tom Johnson, Anoka County Attorney Robert M.A. Johnson, Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster, and Former Hennepin County Attorney Gary Flakne.
Former U.S. Attorney David Lillehag recently said, "The Ramsey County Attorney's Office is a critical agency in ensuring the public's safety. A County Attorney must have good judgment and the ability to lead and manage career prosecutors. As the Saint Paul City Attorney, John has been tested and he has proven that he has the skills necessary to be a superior County Attorney."
In addition to these endorsements, John has the support of more than 80 current and former elected officials, past bar association presidents, the Saint Paul Police Federation, Firefighters Local 21, IAFF Local 3939, AFSCME Local 5, the Ramsey County DFL, the DFL Seniors, Veterans, and Stonewall Caucuses, Teamsters Local 120, Laborers Local 132, Minnesota Pipe Trades Association, Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), Teamsters Joint Council 32 DRIVE, United Transportation (Minnesota), and Minnesota Nurses Association.
Please cast your ballot August 10th for the candidate with the right leadership experience for this important office. Cast your ballot for John Choi for Ramsey County Attorney.
Cory Tennison
Political Director
Volunteers for Choi
Satveer Chaudhary has had a very bad couple of months and it doesn't look to be getting better for him anytime soon, from today's Pioneer Press:
The Minnesota state senator who pushed through last-minute legislation for Fish Lake that contributed to the governor's veto of a major fish and game bill is the subject of a federal tax lien for $252,000 in past-due income taxes, the News Tribune has learned.
Sen. Satveer Chaudhary, DFL-Fridley, and his wife, Denise, failed to pay $100,000 in income taxes in 2007 and $151,000 in 2008, according to tax records.
Ouch. That's quite the tax hit. Here is Chaudhary's attempt at an explanation:
Chaudhary, who owns a home on Fish Lake that would have been affected by his legislation, told the Duluth News Tribune on Thursday that the delinquent taxes were due to his wife's wrongful termination by Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company.
"It forced her to exercise or lose some of her stock options," he said. "In general, she had to use some of her stocks to purchase other stocks, and so that led to a huge tax liability."
He said his wife has filed a wrongful termination suit against Celgene with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.
He said he didn't know the reason for the 2007 tax delinquency and was checking with his accountant to learn more.
It's hard to tell what effect, if any, this will have on Chaudhary's already difficult re-election bid, I mean at this point the damage has been done, but for anyone still on the fence about Chaudhary's actions this is yet one more issue to cause doubts.
Over the weekend I moved from Minneapolis to Columbia Heights; from district 61A represented by Karen Clark and Linda Berglin, to district 50A represented by Carolyn Laine and Satveer Chaudhary.
Tonight is the SD 50 DFL Central Committee meeting to decide if Chaudary will keep his DFL endorsement. The outcome will determine if the primary will be contested or not as former state Rep. Barb Goodwin has said she will challenge Chaudary in the primary if he is stripped of the endorsement, which she also characterized as a likely occurrence. I'll have more on this after the committee meeting today.
In this post I instead wanted to focus on Carolyn Laine's GOP opponent for state house this year, Timothy Utz. Let's just start with the quote on the front page of his website:
"Liberty only endures when Americans diligently use the chains of the Constitution to restrain the three branches of government." ~Timothy Utz
February 9, 2010
What exactly does that mean? What are the "chains of the Constitution"? I thought that the point of the three branches of government was to restrain each other. Aren't the three branches of government made up of Americans? This is one of those quotes that's meant to sound really deep and meaningful, but it doesn't mean anything.
I've been following the continuing Eden Prairie GOPer Mayor Phil Young Scandal; Part 4 (which has links to parts 1, 2, and 3) is here.
And as Joe posted earlier, Young is DEFINITELY taking more heat; the 4th - 4th - Strib story on this scandal is here.
There's an "Open Podium" at 6:30 pm, before tonight's 7:00 pm Council Meeting. I'm supposed to speak first, as I was the first to sign up, but: GOPer Young turned the gavel over to a fellow GOPer so we'll see how that works out!
TheUpTake might be streaming it live; go over there around 6:15 and take a look to see if you can watch the ol' TwoPutter deliver the following remarks!
Hey, political news in my neck of the woods! Eden Prairie Mayor Phil Young's apparent misuse of reimbursement funds, allegedly claiming reimbursements for meetings he either didn't attend and some that didn't even occur, is hitting home.
Critics see the mayor's repeated expense-report transgressions as a breach of trust that should prompt his resignation. A city employee involved in a similar matter would have been fired, they contend.
As Young waits to learn whether he will face misdemeanor charges for the erroneous claims, he will hear from constituents on Tuesday. It's the first City Council meeting since news reports surfaced about the police investigation of his case.
For an open microphone session that promises to be well attended, he has turned the meeting gavel over to City Council Member Brad Aho.
...
Longtime resident Tommy Johnson, a blogger and political pundit, says he will tell the council that Young must go.
"Good leaders lead by example," Johnson said. One false expense claim "is an accident, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern and 26 is inexcusable. I think he should resign and I think he should be prosecuted."
Yep, that's MPP's own TwoPuttTommy. Great work covering this thing, TwoPutt. Yet another interesting aspect of this is that EP City Council Member Ron Case should be on hand -- Case is the DFL-endorsed candidate for the SD42 State Senate seat currently held by Republican David Hann.
Sixth District DFLers Unite to Defeat Michele Bachmann
Maureen Reed ends campaign, endorses DFL-endorsed candidate, Tarryl Clark
St. Paul (June 6, 2010) - Dr. Maureen Reed dropped out of the election in Minnesota's sixth congressional district today, and endorsed State Senator Tarryl Clark. State Chair Brian Melendez released this statement:
"First, I want to congratulate Dr. Reed for running a diligent and spirited campaign. She and her staff, volunteers and supporters have put in long hours and done their part to spread the word on Michele Bachmann's failures. Throughout it all, we were working toward the same goal, and now, we welcome them to the team of supporters uniting behind Tarryl to take back the sixth district.
"With such major challenges facing our state and our nation, there is a lot at stake in this year's elections. DFLers are united and focused on unseating Minnesota's most ineffective, absentee member of Congress who will do anything except work for the people of her district. Working together, we will elect Tarryl Clark this November, and finally give sixth district residents the representation they deserve."
John Harrington won in a 9 way primary race to become the DFL endorsed candidate for Senate District 67, the east side of St Paul. Tonight was the official endorsement of the DFL, since the primary win does not automatically grant the DFL endorsement. Previous very popular State State Senator Mea Moua was there to cheer on John Harrington, as well as Mayor Chris Coleman and other public officials.
Because she's righteous, that's why!
