Political Notebook

Pelowski's reaction to AFSCME's endorsement of opponent

Minnesota Public Radio has a reaction from Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, on AFSCME's decision to back his DFL challenger Debbie White.I wrote about it yesterday on the blog. I did put in a call to Pelowski yesterday but have not yet heard back. So here is what MPR reported. You can read it here.

In statements to MPR, Pelowski said he was never invited to screen for the AFSCME endorsement, contrary to what union officials said in a press release. Here are his comments:

"For the record I was not invited to the AFSCME endorsing event on November 30th at 3pm at WSU which I found out about for the first time today. I was told today that three people attended this event and that the AFSCME lobbyist from St. Paul told them that I stated I did not want to attend. This is not true! I knew nothing of the event! My home or office has no record of being contacted. Since this took place before White announced she was running it is even more curious."

AFSCME backs Pelowski's DFL challenger

The state's largest union today announced it was endorsing the Democrat running against veteran DFL Rep. Gene Pelowski.

In a news release, AFSCME representatives praised Pelowski's DFL opponent Debbie White, a member of Winona City Council.

“Debbie impressed us as a strong leader who campaigns hard and listens well.  She wants to work in partnership with state employees to deliver the best possible public services to the people of Minnesota," said Violet Belter of AFSCME Local 945.

The news release also quotes Paul Bissen, chair of AFSCME's screening committee, attacking Pelowski.

“Twelve terms is enough for Rep. Pelowski, who treats his constituents with contempt. He ignored hundreds of calls to raise revenue fairly and invest in our community.  Instead, he helped Gov. Pawlenty’s allies protect tax breaks for the wealthy, while cutting the vital public services that working families need most when they’re losing their jobs, their homes and their health care.”

Pelowski has bucked the DFL Party line at times. Last session, he voted against a $1 billion tax bill and also voted against overriding the governor's veto of that tax bill. Pelowski's had a 43 percent AFSCME voting record during the 2009 legislative session.

Pelowski has explained that he did not support the tax bill because he knew the governor would veto it and that there were not enough votes to override it. He said DFL lawmakers instead should have spent last session looking to balance the budget strictly with cuts so that residents would have a real understanding of the impact. Instead, he said Democrats poured energy into a tax bill that they knew would be vetoed and residents did not get a real sense of just how deep the budget cuts would have to be to balance the budget.

The news release states that Pelowski declined an invitation to screen for AFSCME's endorsement.

More candidates jump into local House races

December has proven to be a busy month for candidate announcements.

Republican Chuck Bradford is expected to announce Tuesday in Rochester that he will run for the House seat currently held by fellow Republican Rep. Randy Demmer of Hayfield.

Demmer is seeking the Republican endorsement for the 1st Congressional District seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Tim Walz. Demmer has already said he does not plan to run for re-election.

Bradford, of Mantorville, ran for the seat during the last election but dropped out after Demmer failed to get the GOP endorsement for the congressional seat and decided to run for re-election to the House
District 29A seat. Bradford current serves on the Mantorville City Council and is chair of the Dodge County Republicans. He is also an active member of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, veteran DFL state Rep. Gene Pelowski is getting some competition from within his own party. The Winona Daily News reports that Winona City Councilwoman Debbie White plans to challenge Pelowski for the District 31A
House seat.

The Winona Daily News quotes a statement from White as to why she is running.

“At this time of great economic challenges, we need a leader who will
listen to the needs of the people in the district. We can no longer afford
to ignore the needs of the people of our district — it is time for new
leadership.”

Rhett Zenke has announced he will seek the Republican endorsement for the
seat.