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

Olmsted Republicans pick Valeriano over Sullivan

Olmsted County Republicans last night picked nurse Melissa Valeriano over Realtor Max Sullivan to run against DFL Rep. Kim Norton at their endorsing convention on Thursday night.
Republican Party of Olmsted County Chairman Bruce Kaskubar said Valeriano won endorsement for the House District 25B seat on the first ballot. Sullivan said Friday morning he plans to abide by the endorsement. Also winning endorsement was Rochester School Board member Breanna Bly for the House District 26A seat. She will take on DFL Rep. Tina Liebling in the fall.
All four local incumbents were endorsed and none of them faced a challenge from within the party. Winning endorsement were Rep. Mike Benson of Rochester, Rep. Duane Quam of Byron, Sen. Carla Nelson of Rochester and Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem of Rochester.
The Olmsted County DFL endorsed its candidates back in March. Below is a list of the candidate match-ups.
House District 25A: John Vossen, DFL-Kasson, vs. incumbent Duane Quam, R-Byron
House District 25B: Incumbent Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, vs. Melissa Valeriano, R-Rochester
Senate District 25: Judy Ohly, DFL-Rochester vs. incumbent Dave Senjem, R-Rochester
House District 26A: Breanna Bly, R-Rochester, vs. incumbent Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester
House District 26B: Incumbent Mike Benson, R-Rochester, vs. Pat Stallman, DFL-Rochester

Senate District 26: Ken Moen, DFL-Rochester vs. incumbent Carla Nelson, R-Rochester

Olmsted County GOP gathers today for endorsing conventions

While local Republican lawmakers are working at the state Capitol, Republicans back in Olmsted County will be gathering at Byron Middle School to endorse candidates.

Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem, Sen. Carla Nelson, Rep. Mike Benson and Rep. Duane Quam will likely miss tonight's convention. The Senate is slated to vote on the bonding bill put together by Senjem, which now no longer includes $32 million for the Mayo Civic Center expansion. Senjem faced fierce criticism from Tea Party members opposed to bonding for the center.

There will be at least one endorsing battle for the House District 25B seat, which is currently held by DFL Rep. Kim Norton. Rochester Realtor Max Sullivan and nurse Melissa Valeriano are expected to face-off. Rochester School Board member Breanna Bly will be seeking the endorsement for the House District 26A seat with hopes of taking on DFL Rep. Tina Liebling in November.

Bly to run for Minnesota House

Rochester School Board member Breanna Bly chose the Republican caucuses to make her big announcement — she will run for the Minnesota House seat held by DFL Rep. Tina Liebling.

In an interview, Bly said she had gotten several calls from people asking her to consider running for the seat. She said she had already decided not to run for re-election to the school board. After much consideration, Bly decided it was the right time to run. She said her time on the school board highlights what makes her a strong candidate.

"I can make tough decisions and tough decisions are going to continue to need to be made at the state level," she said.

It is still unknown what the final legislative boundaries will be for the 2012 election. The courts are expected to release the final redistricting maps later this month. Liebling has said that if redistricting results in a Senate district that is mostly contained within the city of Rochester and she lives within the district, she will run for the seat. That would potentially pit Liebling against GOP Sen. Carla Nelson. Another Democrat, Rochester attorney Ken Moen, has already announced he is running for the Senate seat.