Political Notebook

Liebling draws attention to Dallemand donation to Bly

DFL Rep. Tina Liebling is drawing attention to the fact that former Rochester Superintendent Romain Dallemand donated money to her Republican opponent, Rochester School Board member Breanna Bly. Liebling sent out the following tweet this morning: "Controversial former #Rochmn school superintendent--now in Georgia--made big donation to my opp's campaign."

Dallemand donated $250 to Bly's campaign. The former superintendent's tenure as head of Rochester Public Schools was rocky at times. He left in 2011 to become the superintendent of Bibb County Schools in Macon, Ga. Bly has served 12 years on the Rochester School Board.

The race between Bly and Liebling is drawing big money from outside groups supporting the Republican candidate's bid to unseat the four-term DFL incumbent. Recently-released campaign reports show Bly has received about $83,000 in support from Republicans and business-related political committees. Liebling has not been getting any significant funding from the party or third-party groups.

BLOG UPDATE: Just got a call from Bly reacting to Liebling's tweet about Dallemand's donation. She said she was "saddened" by it and that Dallemand chose to support her based on her work on the school board.

"He saw my work ethic, he knows my passion and care for kids and regardless of what some people in this town thought of him, I am grateful that he thinks I would do a great job representing the best interests of students across the state," she said.

Click here to Download Bly's campaign report and here to Download Liebling's campaign report

Quist to national Republicans: Thanks, but no thanks

1st District Republican candidate Allen Quist isn't getting any help from national Republicans when it comes to TV ads and the St. Peter farmer said that's probably for the best.

He said Republican advisors approached him about running TV ads and wanted him to use a cookie-cutter TV ad and insert his name. But he told them he had no interest in doing that.

"We are on our own an it's probably for the best," Quist said.

Instead, Quist put together this own TV ads, which he describes as "folksy," featuring his grandchildren and focused on the national debt. Meanwhile, 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz has three slickly-produced TV ads on the air focused on his work on behalf of veterans, U.S. manufacturing and his willingness to work across the aisle. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced earlier this month it was pulling $260,000 worth of TV ads it had planned to run on behalf of Walz — a likely indication that Democrats are feeling pretty confident about the race.

The TV landscape is dramatically different than it was two years ago. The national parties on both sides of the aisle spent heavily on attack ads on behalf of Walz and his Republican rival Randy Demmer of Hayfield.

 

Flier attacks Senjem on stem cell vote

A new campaign flier goers after Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem for his vote in favor of a cloning ban that opponents say would end up banning embryonic stem cell research in the state.

The Minnesota DFL piece says it bold letters: "Not only did Senator Senjem vote against funding medical research, he voted to make it a crime." It goes on to say that medicine and research is the "lifeblood" of the Rochester region, "yet Senator Dave Senjem voted at least twice to undermine stem cell research — even voting to make it a criminal offense." It ends by saying that Senjem used to stand up for Rochester, "But today, the needs of our community take a back seat to an extreme political agenda. It's time for a change."

Olmsted County Commissioner Judy Ohly is challenging the Republican leader in Senate District 25. So far, I have seen two fliers sent out this week by the DFL party going after Senjem — this one and another focused on the state government shutdwon the elimination of the Market Value Homestead Credit.

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed the omnibus Health and Human Services bill that contained the cloning provision citing concerns raised by medical researchers that it would ban embryonic stem cell research. Organizations opposed to the ban included Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota researchers. Supporters said it was not intended to limit medical research but rather simply ban the cloning of another human being.

The dispute centered around how human cloning is defined.The legislation would have prohibited a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, where the nucleus of a body cell is placed within an egg from which its nucleus has been removed. That process can be used to clone humans through reproductive cloning. It also can be used for therapeutic cloning to grow body tissues that match a patient’s body.

Carlson weighs in on Brodkorb and marriage amendment

Former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson was in town last night to talk about his opposition to the Voter ID amendment, but during his presentation he spent some time talking about fired Senate staffer Michael Brodkorb. In particular, he focused on Brodkorb's assertion that the marriage amendment was put on the ballot primary as a way to turn out the Republican base.

"Michael Brodkorb is back in the news. As one political observer said, 'He is the gift that keeps giving,'" Carlson said getting laughs from the crowd.

The former governor went on to talk about the idea that putting the  marriage amendment on the ballot was all about partisan gain.

"How interesting it is to know that while these senators were rolling in each others' beds they were blaming the gay community for violating and threatening the sanctity of marriage. What a novel approach," he said.

Brordkorb was fired from his job as Senate communications director and it was later revealed he had been having an affair with then-Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch. He is suing the Senate arguing he was improperly terminated because other staff who have had affairs with legislators were not fired but moved into other positions. Carlson said he expects Brodkorb "probably will do quite well" in his lawsuit.

 

Carlson and Penny to speak out against Voter ID in Rochester

Former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson and former congressman and Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tim Penny are both planning to visit Rochester this month to speak out against the proposed Voter ID constitutional amendment.

Carlson plans to talk about his opposition to the amendment at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Century High School, 2525 Viola Road N.E. in Rochester. Penny, president and CEO of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, will speak at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at the Rochester Senior Center, 121 N. Broadway.

Both events are free and open to the public. They are sponsored by the League of Women Voters, AARP, the Rochester Senior Center, AAUW and Our Vote, Our Future.

Final Walz-Quist showdown tonight in Mankato

The third and final debate between 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz and Republican Allen Quist is tonight in Mankato.

The debate begins at 7 p.m. at Minnesota State University — Mankato's Ostrander Auditorium. It is a 90-minute debate sponsored by Debate Minnesota and will be live streamed on the Mankato Free Press website and the Debate Minnesota website. It is free and open to the public.

If it's anything like their first debate in Byron last month, expect fireworks. The two also did a debate on KSTP's "At Issue." You can watch that here.

The TV ad war in the district is also heating up. Quist released his first TV ad since the Republican primary. It is focused on the marriage penalty in the federal health care law and features another of his granddaughters. You can watch it here. Meanwhile, the Walz campaign announced today it has released its second ad. This one touts Walz's efforts to pass legislation that supports veterans when they come home from war. It features Mankato veteran Mike McLaughlin, a marine who did two tours of duty in Iraq. You can watch it here.

David Wellstone in town for book signing

David Wellstone will be in Rochester on Thursday to sign copies of his new book "Becoming Wellstone: Healing from Tragedy and Carrying on My Father's Legacy."

Oct. 25 will mark the tenth anniversary of the tragic plane crash near Eveleth that killed Wellstone's father, DFL Sen. Paul Wellstone, his mother Sheila Wellstone, his sister Marcia Wellstone Markuson, three campaign staffers and the two pilots. In his book, Wellstone writes about growing up with his larger-than-life father, including attending Vietnam War protests and standing with striking Hormel workers in the 1980s as National Guard troops approached in riot gear. He also shared new intimate details about the day of the crash and how he dealt with his overwhelming grief. Wellstone also details how he successfully lobbied to pass a bill requiring insurance companies to cover mental health treatment at the same level as physical health treatment — legislation his father had fought for for many years to get passed.

The book signing starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Barnes & Noble in Apache Mall in Rochester.