Political Party

Allen Quist announces run for Congress

Former state Republican Rep. Allen Quist announced this morning that he is running for the 1st District Congressional seat held by DFL Rep. Tim Walz.

The retired professor and farmer said he decided to get back into politics because he is concerned about the direction the country is headed.

“My analysis is that the American dream of liberty and opportunity to improve our position in life has been seriously compromised,” he said.

Quist, 65, made the announcement this morning in Mankato, the first stop on a four-city tour of the district. He was expected to hold a news conference at 11 a.m. in Austin and at 1 p.m. in Rochester.

It has been more than a decade since Quist left the statewide political scene. The conservative Republican served three terms in the Minnesota House from 1983 to 1988. He also ran for governor twice. He won the GOP endorsement in 1994, but went on to lose to Republican Gov. Arne Carlson. Four years later he withdrew in favor of GOP candidate Norm Coleman.

He also opposes the cap and trade proposal aimed at cutting greenhouse gases, saying it will lead to higher energy costs. He said he also opposed the $787 billion stimulus. If elected, he said he would focus on balancing the federal budget.

“We are not going to do that overnight, but we have to balance the budget because the continued deficit spending is a huge drag on our economy and that means high unemployment,” he said.

Quist to make announcement tomorrow

Republican Allen Quist will make an announcement "regarding 1st Congressional District" tomorrow at 1p.m. in the Rochester City Council Chambers.

Quist has been considering running for the 1st District Congressional seat currently held by DFL Rep. Tim Walz. Quist, of St. Peter, served three terms in the Minnesota House from 1983 to 1988. He received the GOP gubernatorial endorsement for governor in 1994 but lost to Gov. Arne Carlson.

It certainly seems as though Quist is poised to jump in the race. He already has a "Quist for Congress" Web page and Facebook page.

Walz's campaign has already started mobilizing against Quist. In a fundraising letters to supporters, Walz links Quist to Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann writing that they "are two peas in a pod." He said they have a long history of working together adding that "It's clear from their extreme right-wing ideology that they are kindred political spirits."

Quist's wife Julie Quist currently serves as Bachmann's district director. 

Byron driving school owner to take on Senjem

Democrat Gregory French, owner of Advantage Driving School, has established a campaign committee to run for the Senate District 29 seat. French would be taking on GOP Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem, of Rochester. Here is a link to French's information.

Senjem was first elected to the senate in 2002. In 2006, he won by a vote of 55 percent. The DFL candidate Ron Broberg got 35 percent of the vote and Independence Party candidate Jim Daley received 11 percent.

Coleman tops GOP gov candidates in new poll

 

Even though he has not announced plans to run, former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman topped other GOP candidates running for governor in a new poll. A Rasmussen Reports poll founds that Coleman would get 50 percent support from likely Republican voters in the state.

That gives Coleman a sizable lead over the other contenders. State Rep. Marty Seifert, who stepped down as House Minority Leader to run for governor, comes in second with 11 percent support. State Rep. Laura Brod, who has not ruled out running for governor, received 5 percent of the vote. State Rep. Tom Emmer got 1 percent. Republican voters backing other candidates amounted to 7 percent.

One of the most interesting numbers in the poll is that 26 percent of GOP voters are undecided. That could leave the door open for a new candidate -— especially if Coleman opts not to run. It begs the question whether Commissioner of Labor and Industry Steve Sviggum might toss his hat in the ring. The former House Speaker found out that federal law prohibited him from running for office while keeping his day job. But he left open the possibility of stepping down and running for office closer to the election.

Among DFL candidates, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak tied for the top spot, each netting 30 percent of the vote from likely Democratic voters. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher got 8 percent and former state House Minority Leader Matt Entenza received 6 percent. Another 5 percent prefer a different candidate and 20 percent are undecided.

Here is a link to the poll results.

House DFL jumps into unallotment lawsuit

Minnesota House Democrats voted this morning to wade into the legal fight over Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unilateral budget cuts this summer.

Members of the House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee voted in favor of filing a friend of the court brief in a lawsuit brought by six Minnesotans who are suing Pawlenty over his use of unallotment. The vote was on a party line basis — 14 to 8.

Meanwhile, Rochester Democratic Rep. Tina Liebling has said she thinks the legislature is not going far enough. She said she supports the idea of the legislature suing the governor.

"I believe that there is a very strong legal basis for it. I believe what the governor did was illegal and possibly unconstitutional and needs to be challenged in court," Liebling said.

Here is a link to that story.

Rochester Tea Party Patriots set sights on Walz

The Rochester Tea Party Patriots have another rally planned tomorrow in front of 1st District Rep. Tim Walz's office.

An e-mail from the group features the image of a plug removed from a light socket and states, "Congressman Walz pulled the plug on health care."

The e-mail goes on to state, "The health care bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week will have devastating effects upon our Nation. After talking for weeks out of both sides of his mouth on the issue, Tim Walz demonstrated his true colors when he jumped up on the Nancy Pelosi bandwagon and turned his back on his own constituents!  NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA TO EVALUATE WALZ’S JOB PERFORMANCE!"

The rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. at 1134 7th St. N.W.

The Republican Party of Minnesota is also trying to capitalize on Walz's vote. The party's chairman Tony Sutton wrote an editorial for the Winona Daily News that ran yesterday with the headline "Health care bill enough reason to dump Walz." Here is a link to the editorial. 

Efforts are underway by the Minnesota DFL Party to support Walz. I received a fact sheet from the U.S. House of Representatives about the impacts of the House health care bill for the 1st Congressional District. It states that the bill would provide credits to help an estimated 160,000 households in the district pay for health insurance. It would also provide coverage to 16,000 uninsured residents and make sure that 6,000 individuals with pre-existing conditions get coverage. Click here to Download CD1 Health Care Bill fact sheet

Dueling health care rallies in Roch tomorrow

It is clear that the passion among both supporters and opponents of the Democrats' health care plan continues to run high in Rochester.

On Thursday, liberal political action committee MoveOn.org has scheduled a rally in support of health care reform in front of Sen. Amy Klobuchar's office in Rochester. The rally is scheduled for noon at 1134 7th St. N.W.

Meanwhile, the Rochester Tea Party Patriots are reacting to that rally with a rally of their own at the same location starting at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. In an e-mail the patriots group says "We need to ensure our senators get OUR message: Kill the bill!!"

It should make for an interesting lunch hour.

Walz, Mayo to tout Medicare payment reform

Back after casting a vote this weekend for the House health care reform bill, 1st District Rep. Tim Walz will surround himself with area doctors and nurses at a news event.

The Democrat will be at Rochester Community and Technical College at noon to discuss the importance of having Medicare payment reform as part of the final health care bill. He will be joined by Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center Executive Director Jeff Korsmo and area doctors and nurses.

In a news release, Walz said he supported the health care bill because it helps address the geographical inequities in the Medicare payment system. Right now, providers in other states like Florida and Texas receive higher Medicare payments while providers in Minnesota get less.

Walz said, "I’m voting for this bill because it solves two long-standing problems with how Medicare pays Minnesota doctors and hospitals. The first change ends the fee-for-service payment model in Medicare that Mayo and other experts have said perversely encourages hospitals to perform unnecessary procedures and tests. It instead creates a new pay-for-results method that will be based upon data and developed by the experts at the non-partisan Institute of Medicine. This Mayo-backed change is patient-centered and will reward innovation, results and quality care. The second change corrects the bone-headed fact that Medicare historically under-pays Minnesota doctors and hospitals simply because of geography — simply because of where we live.  This will help deliver better care for our seniors.”

Last night, potential GOP congressional candidate Allen Quist had a "Freedom in Health Care Forum" where he urged conservatives to fight against the health care reform bill. Quist is considering running for Walz's seat. Here is a link to today's story.

Quist hosts "Freedom in Health Care Forum" tonight in Roch

Potential GOP congressional candidate Allen Quist will be in Rochester tonight hosting a "Freedom in Health Care Forum" tonight in Rochester. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Ramada Inn.

Quist has established an exploratory committee as he mulls over a potential bid for 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz's seat. At the forum, Quist will be speaking out against the Democrats' health care reform plans. He will also outline his own health care reform ideas, which center on malpractice reform and tax rebates.

Tonight's forum is the first of three Quist is holding across the 1st District. Tomorrow he has one in Mankato and Wednesday he is holding one in Worthington. Quist has also said he hopes to announce whether he is running this week. He has already set up a Quist For Congress Web site and Facebook page.

Quist won the GOP gubernatorial endorsement for governor in 1994 but lost to Gov. Arne Carlson. It will be interesting to see what kind of a turnout the St. Peter politician gets in Rochester. He will have a local conservative by his side — former GOP congressional candidate Dr. Brian Davis, who lost to Walz in 2008.

Meanwhile, supporters of health care reform have planned a "Countdown to Change" rally at noon on Thursday in front of Sen. Amy Klobuchar's office in Rochester. The event is being organized by liberal political action committee MoveOn.org.

Walz: 'I don't think we can ever do enough' for soldiers

1st District Congressman Tim Walz offered his reaction to the Fort Hood shootings in an interview last night on MSNBC's "The Ed show" hosted by Ed Schultz. Walz, the highest ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress, called the incident an "incredible tragedy."

"We've got these brave warriors who do their duty, put themselves at risk for us and they are back on their home post with their families and we see something like this happen," Walz said.

During the interview, Schultz asked Walz whether enough is being done to help support soldiers. Walz said progress is being made but there is still more work to do.

"This is a very demanding job on the families and the warriors. I don't think we will ever be able to do enough," he said.

Here is a link to the interview. It should be noted that it is outdated in terms of the shooting information, saying that the suspected gunman was killed when in actuality he survived with injuries.