Political Notebook

Emmer wins GOP endorsement

Republicans rallied around state Rep. Tom Emmer on Friday endorsing the “hockey dad” who emphasized the need to shrink government and reign in spending.
Buoyed by a last-minute endorsement by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Emmer and his running mate Annette Meeks won a swift victory after two ballots over his chief opponent state Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall.
“We will win next November and we will work tirelessly to help elect every candidate who respects the truth. The truth that government by the people, for the people should galldarnit start listening to the people,” Emmer told delegates.
Last weekend, Democrats endorsed House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher of Minneapolis. But Kelliher faces a tough primary battle against two well-funded opponents — former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza.
Olmsted County delegate Othelmo da Silva enthusiastically campaigned for Emmer among his fellow delegates, sporting an “Emmer for Governor” jersey and waving a campaign sign. The Rochester resident said he likes Emmer personally and believes he is sincere.
“Tom is the hockey guy . He checks, he is honest, he is aggressive but is fair as well and I think that is what we need — politics unusual,” he said.

The battle for rural votes

Rural voters are getting plenty of attention today as the two GOP gubernatorial candidate front runners, state Rep. Tom Emmer and state Rep. Marty Seifert, try to woo delegates. Seifert's campaign has taken aim at his opponent for having an all metro-area ticket with Emmer of Delano and Annette Meeks of Delano. In literature passed out by the Seifert campaign to delegates, it states "an 'all-metro' Republican ticket sends the wrong signal to voters in rural Minnesota." Seifert is from Marshall and his running mate is Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah.

That argument appears to be winning over Mower County delegates. So far of the 11 delegates all are going for Seifert except for one. Delegate and House District 27B candidate Jennifer Gumbel said she is backing Seifert because she believes he is more in touch with rural Minnesotans.

"I don't think that outstate development is going to be on Emmer's radar," Gumbel said.

But it is a totally different story in Wabasha County. State Rep. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa, a backer of Emmer, said that the entire county delegation is expected to vote for Emmer. Drazkowski challenged the assertion by Seifert's campaign that Emmer-Meeks is an "all-metro" ticket saying that half of Emmer's legislative district is rural.

"(Emmer) is very, very in tune with the rural area," Drazkowski said.

TPaw calls Crist's decision "regrettable"

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty stopped in Rochester this afternoon to meet with the Post-Bulletin's editorial board. Most of the conversation focused on education reform proposals aimed at helping Minnesota's next Race to the Top application for federal funding. At one point, Pawlenty was asked about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who is reportedly planning to leave the GOP party and run as an independent for the U.S. Senate.

"I think his decision is regrettable," he said.

Pawlenty also said he was "very disappointed" by Crist's decision to veto an education reform bill.

"I think it would have been the most significant pieces of education reform in the modern history of the country and he vetoed it to the applause of the teachers unions but to the disappointment of the education reform movement across the country."

Pawlenty headed to Plainview tomorrow

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty will visit Plainview tomorrow morning as part of an event sponsored by the Plainview Chamber of Commerce. He is expected to talk about jobs, the economy, education reform and small business initiatives.

After his Plainview visit, Pawlenty will be coming to Rochester to meet with the Rochester Post-Bulletin's editorial board. He is expected to talk about his proposed education reforms aimed at improving Minnesota's Race to the Top application. His proposal includes linking student performance to teachers' pay and providing alternative pathways to teacher licensure.

Emmer announces Lt. Gov pick in Rochester

GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer traveled to Rochester today to announce his choice of Annette Meeks for his running mate.

Emmer said that several weeks ago he put together a committee led by current Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau to help come up with a list of potential candidates. In the end, he said a list of 25 candidates was narrowed to three.

"I am here to tell you the person that I asked, the person who has agreed to accept this jobs, was the number one candidate in my book," he said.

Meeks is president of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, a conservative think tank. She is also a member of the Metropolitan Council and formerly served as Deputy Chief of Staff for former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Democrats and Emmer's GOP opponent Marty Seifert's campaign noted that Meeks wrote that she supported getting rid of the lieutenant governor position in her book Minnesota Policy Blueprint.

State DFL Chair Brian Melendez issued the following statement: “Not only does Tom Emmer lack the judgment and temperament to be governor, but now he has chosen a running mate who believes that the job she’s running for should be abolished. That very odd choice is a troubling indicator of what an Emmer–Meeks administration would do to Minnesota."

When asked about her previous writings, Meeks said that her book talked with people from four different administrations who said it is critical that the lieutenant governor be given something to do. Emmer said he would make Meeks in charge of redesigning state government.

"This is the person that is going to manage that redesign, manage the agencies when we go and peel back one at a time, what is necessary, what is excessive or duplicative," Emmer said.

Kelliher leading in endorsement race

As of the 2nd ballot, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher is continuing to lead in the DFL endorsement race. She got nearly 28 percent of the vote in the 2nd ballot. But that is a far cry from the 60 percent needed for an endorsement. So many DFLers are preparing for a long, long night.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is coming in second. He has picked up some delegates going from nearly 22 percent to nearly 25 percent. State Rep. Paul Thissen is third winning nearly 20 percent of the vote in the 2nd ballot and state Rep. Tom Rukavina is fourth with 17 percent.

State Sen. John Marty ended up conceding after the second ballot after coming in last among the viable candidates.

It is interesting to note that while Kelliher has the lead, she is lagging behind in southeast Minnesota. In Olmsted County, Rybak is the favorite with 9 votes and Thissen is a close second with 7. Thissen is also doing very well in both Mower County netting 5 of the 9 delegate votes.

Let the DFL ballot betting begin!

Former Rochester Sen. Sheila Kiscaden told me today she recently hosted an event for DFL women where they were asked to place their bets on how long it will take to endorse a gubernatorial candidate at today's state convention. The group was political saavy, featuring past and current state lawmakers and veteran party activists.

So how long do these women think it will take to endorse a governor? Kiscaden said the bets ranged from 10 to 20 ballots. Kiscaden said  she is backing Margaret Anderson Kelliher for governor because of her work as Speaker of the House. She said the next governor needs to not only have executive skills but also be able to navigate the legislative system.

But when it came to making her $1 bet, Kiscaden said she guessed that Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak will end up getting the endorsement after 15 ballots.

DFL convention kicks off in Duluth

As I arrived at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, there was no doubt that this was the home of the DFL state Convention. Supporters of gubernatorial candidates have gone all out to show who they are backing for governor. I saw car windows decorated for House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a woman decked out with a giant hat made from John Marty campaign signs and a Paul Thissen backer standing at the parking lot entrance waving a sign.

Nearly 1,400 delegates from across the state have arrived in Duluth to determine which of six gubernatorial candidates will get the party's endorsement. Leading the pack are Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Kelliher. But four other candidates are in the mix — Matt Entenza, Marty, Thissen and Tom Rukavina.

Today's agenda is filled mostly with procedural motions. At 3 p.m. today delegates are expected to endorse candidates for constitutional office — attorney general, state auditor and secretary of state. Tomorrow is the big day when the balloting starts for the gubernatorial endorsement.

Get ready for the campaign ads!

Looks like DFL gubernatorial candidate Matt Entenza will be kicking off the campaign ads for this year's contested DFL primary. His campaign has announced that Entenza plans to run TV and radio ads across the state starting next week after the state DFL convention.

Entenza has not purchased TV ad time from southeast Minnesota TV stations — but he has bought ad time in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Duluth-Superior, which reaches more than 84 percent of the state. Those ads are slated to run through early June. He is buying radio ad time in Rochester, which will start running next week through mid-May. 

Entenza's TV ad features historic footage from Worthington, Minn., where the candidate grew up. He contrasts those times with today saying that  "When we look around today, sometimes it feels like that Minnesota is out of reach." He says that "we can't cut our way back to greatness" and calls for investments in education and clean energy.

To watch Entenza's TV ad, go here.

GOP gubernatorial race getting nasty

With the Republican State Convention a little over a week away, Marty Seifert's campaign is attacking attention rival Tom Emmer for his two prior DWI arrests.

An e-mail sent out by Seifert's campaign this afternoon includes a letter from Republican activist and state delegate Sandra Berg whose husband and son were badly injured after their car was struck by a drunken driver last year.

In the letter, Berg writes,

"Our choice for the next Republican endorsee for governor is an extremely serious matter. It is important that we delegates are aware of important, relevant facts before the Republican state convention. To hold these facts back and instead allow the Democrats, the Star Tribune or other news media to air out the facts in a general election campaign would be a supreme disservice to our party.
The fact is one of the major candidates asking for our endorsement for governor has been arrested for drunk driving. Twice."

Click here to Download Berg Letter

A quick Google search shows that Emmer's DWI record has already been reported on by several media outlets. Here is a Star Tribune story from March 29. According to the article, Emmer received a DWI-related ticket in 1981 and faced DWI charges again in 1991 when he was 30. Emmer pleaded guilty to careless driving and the two DWI charges and a license plate violation were dropped.

Berg's letter goes on to criticize Emmer for supporting legislation that would soften the state's DWI penalties.

Seifert's campaign issued the following statement:

"Republican activist and state convention delegate Sandra Berg’s family was victimized by a drunk driver.  As a result, she was moved to share important information with fellow Republican state convention delegates about Tom Emmer’s record:  two past DWI arrests; his efforts in 2009 as a legislator to weaken the state’s DWI laws and cover up the fact he broke them; and not sharing this information when asked about a possible “October surprise” at a recent candidate forum.

Sandra’s letter provides factual information about a vital issue for the delegates to consider: the electability and credibility of candidates.  At her request, the Seifert campaign distributed her letter.

While there is much in common between Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer on the issues, there are differences too.  Marty will continue to run an issues-based, substantive campaign to lead Minnesota forward."

Emmer's campaign responded by accusing Seifert of reaching a "new low" in campaigning.

“We’re all used to October surprises by the Democrats, but we never thought Marty would sink so low to launch this April surprise against a fellow Republican at the last minute before the convention,” said Rep. Mark Buesgens, Chairman of the Emmer for Governor Campaign. “The fact is that Tom has been upfront with delegates about this issue. They were the subject of a newspaper article last year and Tom has been very forthcoming about his actions to anyone who asked.”