Political Notebook

Demmer said "worst fears" pushed him to run for Congress

In an interview this afternoon, Hayfield Republican Rep. Randy Demmer said concerns about the growth of government prompted him to jump in the 1st Congressional District race.

“The worst fears we could imagine about government intervention, about government growth not just in terms of spending and taxation but just even the intervention in our lives is too much for me to take,” he said.

Demmer is expected to make his bid official tomorrow morning at an 8:30 a.m. press conference at the Olmsted County Government Center in Rochester. He said he does not plan to run for re-election to the legislature and instead will focus all of his energy on the congressional race.

This marks the second time Demmer has sought the seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Tim Walz. He launched a campaign bid in 2007 but lost the GOP endorsement to Rochester Dr. Brian Davis. Davis ended up losing to Walz, with the Democrat garnering nearly 63 percent of the vote.

Demmer joins former state Rep. Allen Quist of St. Peter, who has already announced he is seeking the Republican endorsement in the race. The local Republican said he intends to abide by the GOP endorsement, although he would not shut the door completely to running without it.

“My plan right now would be to seek that endorsement, and I guess at this point in time I would plan to abide by it. I think it would be extremely difficult to not (abide by it), but one thing I’ve learned is never say never,” he said.

He cites the Democrats' health care reform plan as a prime example of government going too far. He said he believes it is a first step toward a single-payer health care system. He added it is also time to curb federal spending adding that "under the term 'stimulus,' anything and everything goes."

Demmer said he also opposes the cap-and-trade bill aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions saying it would harm the state's agricultural industry.

Demmer expected to announce run for Congress

Hayfield Republican Rep. Randy Demmer is expected to officially announce tomorrow he will run a second time for the 1st Congressional Seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Tim Walz.

A colleague of mine passed along an e-mail sent to Demmer's supporters about the press conference planned for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow in the rotunda at the Olmsted County Government Center in Rochester. I have an interview scheduled with Demmer for later this afternoon.

In 2007, Demmer launched a bid for the seat. But he ended up losing the GOP endorsement to Rochester Dr. Brian Davis. Davis lost to Walz.

Demmer was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2002. He will join former state Rep. Allen Quist of St. Peter who has already announced he is running for the Republican endorsement.

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.