Political Party

Quist to announce congressional bid against Walz soon?

In an interview this afternoon, Republican Allen Quist said he hopes to be making an announcement next week as to whether or not he will run for DFL Congressman Tim Walz's seat.

"I have formed an exploratory committee and the way you explore in my judgment is you campaign aggressively and see what happens. I have been pursuing it aggressively — does that mean I've made a final decision? It does not mean that. But I am certainly inclined to (run)."

Quist said he temporarily put his campaigning on hold 10 days ago in order to focus his attention on speaking out against the House health care reform bill. Quist has organized three "Freedom in Health Care Forums" including one in Rochester at 7 p.m. on Monday at the Ramada Inn. He will also have one in Mankato and Worthington. Quist said he will outline his own health care reform proposals, which include malpractice reform and reducing mandates on insurance companies. He said the goal is to get voters to urge members of Congress to vote against the Democrats' health care reform proposals.

Asked whether these forums are really about building support for his campaign, Quist said it goes against his interest to try to get Walz to vote no on the health care reform bill. 

"If I put my own political interests first, I would just sit back and let (Walz) vote for it and go after him. I'm not going to do that. I want to try and influence him to vote no even though that is not in my political interest," he said.

Quist already has a campaign Web site and a Facebook page up and running.

Quist is a former state representative who won the Republican gubernatorial endorsement in 1994 but lost in a landslide to Gov. Arne Carlson.

Mayors push for candidates to take stand on LGA

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities today announced a campaign aimed at urging voters to ask gubernatorial candidates whether they support Local Government Aid. As part of that announcement, they unveiled a two-minute video that states cities have lost $782 million in LGA since 2003 and that Minnesota property taxes have gone up 64 percent.

The coalition also takes aim at Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. It features a video of him when he was running for governor in 2002. In the video, Pawlenty says, "You can't run around the state and say I'm not going to increase taxes and then cut LGA in a way that drives up local property taxes."

While Pawlenty makes these comments, a chart shows the cuts in LGA and the rising property taxes.

Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm is also featured in the video. He talks about the impact of state aid cuts on Austin's public safety.

"We're down one police officer already," he said. "We are anticipating another police officer going in August."

Pawlenty's spokesman Alex Carey offered this reaction to the coalition's campaign.

“During these difficult economic times, cities need to streamline and become more efficient, and not turn reflexively to local property tax increases. For 2009, Governor Pawlenty capped the cut in LGA payments to cities at 3.3 percent. Cities should be able to find ways to manage a small reduction to their revenues, just like families and businesses are doing, without massively hiking local property taxes.”

To watch the video, go here.

Instant Runoff Voting in Olmsted?

Tomorrow night, the League of Women Voters is hosting  a meeting in Rochester aimed at explaining Instant Runoff Voting. In a nutshell, the system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The idea is to make sure the winner has an absolute majority of votes instead of a simple plurality.

Minneapolis voters will be using the new system this fall for mayoral, council and two board elections. St. Paul voters will be deciding this fall whether to go to IRV, also known as Ranked Choice Voting.

The event will be from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Thursday at the Rochester Public Library. The event will be run by Dag Knudsen of Lake City, who is a member of the Board of Directors of FairVote Minnesota. Participants will get the chance to vote in a mock election using this system.

The League has come out in support of Ranked Choice Voting. But this voting method is not without its critics. Minnesota Public Radio had an interesting story about one of those critics. You can find it here.

Pam Fuller, Olmsted County's election coordinator, told me today she has not heard of any efforts to get IRV here. Could this meeting be an attempt to build support to push for the idea locally? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

New survey finds Minnesotans want better return on tax dollars

A new survey released by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Tunheim Partners finds that the majority of respondents do not want state government to raise taxes. According to the survey, 63 percent advocated cutting overall government spending to balance the state budget. But interestingly enough, 6 out of 10 of the respondents also said they would be willing to personally pay more to improve services like K-12 outcomes, long-term care and ensuring Minnesota's infrastructure.

The poll also concludes that Minnesota is a "purple state" with voters evenly divided among Independents, Republicans and Democrats. When it comes to the 2010 gubernatorial election, the poll found that neither Democrats or Republicans have an advantage. It also found that Democratic and Republican legislators have a 59 percent disapproval rating. Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's job approval rating was 49 percent. Half of those surveyed said the next governor should have real-world experience and not be a career politician.

The random telephone survey of 602 respondents was conducted Aug. 4 to 6. All participants were screened to be likely November 2010 voters. The margin of error is plus-minus 4 percentage points. To learn more about the survey, click here.

Molnau to take on Walz?

There is an interesting story in the Star Tribune today about the possible future career of Republican Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau. The article said she is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the First District Congressional race. She would be taking on second-term DFL Congressman Tim Walz. The article notes that Molnau is also leaving open the possibility of running for governor in 2010.

Molnau has a controversial history. She was ousted 17  months ago from her post as head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation in the wake of the I-35W bridge collapse.

The article also quotes State Republican Party Chairman Tony Sutton as saying party officials think Walz may be vulnerable. It should be noted, however, that Walz soundly defeated Republican challenger Dr. Brian Davis last year garnering 62.5 percent of the vote compared to Davis' 32.9 percent.

Here is a link to the Star Tribune story.

GOP gubernatorial candidates headed to Rochester

Local Republicans will be able to scope out the many candidates looking to run for governor in 2010 at an upcoming forum.

The Republican Party of Olmsted County is sponsoring a candidate forum on Thursday, Aug. 6. So far, seven GOP candidates have signed up to participate. They include: former State Auditor Pat Anderson, state Rep. Tom Emmer, state Sen. David Hann, Philip Herwig, state Sen. Paul Koering, state Rep. Paul Kohls and former House Minority Leader Marty Seifert.

The event kicks off at 5: 30 p.m. at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center with participants having a chance to chat with the candidates. At 7 p.m. the forum will start. The event is a fundraiser for local Republicans. The cost is $25 per person in advance or $30 at the door.

To buy tickets online, go to this link. Checks can also be mailed to Gubernatorial Forum, c/o David Sovinski, 9377 130th Ave. S.E., Chatfield, MN 55923. Checks must be mailed and postmarked by Aug. 4.

An awkward situation for Houston Democrats?

Houston County DFL Chair Steve Kemp announced this past weekend he was stepping down from his leadership post to run for the District 31B House seat that includes Houston and Fillmore counties.

That could make things a little awkward for Democrats in the district. It is still unclear whether former DFL Rep. Ken Tschumper will run again for the seat he lost last year to Republican Rep. Greg Davids. But rumblings are that the La Crescent farmer is considering another bid, even as the former party head is making a run for it.

"There is a bit of tension within the party," said Kemp, of Spring Grove.

Kemp said he wanted to run because he is concerned about the impact of steep state spending cuts to health care and what that will mean for residents' well being. He added that he sees the district as being middle of the road and that "I think I best represent the middle of the road."

Asked whether he views Tschumper as being more to the left of him, Kemp said yes. But he said he is not going to criticize Tschumper because his focus is running against Davids.

Tschumper defeated Davids, a longtime incumbent, by a mere 52 votes in 2006. But Davids regained the seat he had held for 16 years last year winning by 405 votes.

Kemp, 54, currently serves on the Spring Grove City Council and works at Northern Engraving as a safety manager.

Reaction to unallotment? DFL gov candidates say "Pick me!"

Soon after Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced $2.7 billion in unallotments yesterday, DFL gubernatorial hopefuls began swarming media outlets with reactions.

Candidate Matt Entenza went so far as to announce he would be flying to Rochester this morning to voice his concerns about the unallotment. In a news release, he says these cuts will lead to higher local property taxes.

"This is part of a pattern the governor has engaged in since he took office: claiming to be a steward of the state budget while passing off costs to our communities," Entenza said.

Meanwhile, another candidate who happened to be visiting Rochester Tuesday night to discuss health reform made sure to get his reaction out via e-mail.

"The governor's action is in line with his recent veto of the anti-bullying bill. Tim Pawlenty has become the schoolyard bully; he is picking on the sickest, most vulnerable people in our state," said Sen. John Marty, of Roseville.

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, of Minneapolis, who is considering a run, issued an e-mail statement soon after the announcement. Meanwhile, another possible candidate --  Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak -- traveled to the state Capitol yesterday to offer his opinion. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who is also eying a potential run, was interviewed on MPR's Midmorning show.

 

Poppe backs Entenza for governor

Austin DFL Rep. Jeanne Poppe is wasting no time making her pick in the 2010 governor's race.

In an interview this weekend at Adams Dairy Days, Poppe said she is backing former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza of St. Paul. She said she is impressed with his experience and believes he has what it takes to win.

"He knows how to hire a good staff and how to get the job done," Poppe said.

In fact, Entenza’s campaign announced earlier this month he had hired five firms to help manage online operations, literature and direct mail, paid media and polling.

Other DFL candidates that have already announced plans to run include Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and Sen. John Marty of Roseville. Other potential candidates include St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, former state Sen. Steve Kelley, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and state Rep. Paul Thissen.

It seems as though most local lawmakers are holding back on making endorsements. Sen. Ann Lynch, DFL-Rochester, has said she is not ready to make a formal endorsement but she has been traveling around the city with Bakk. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, hosted a meet and greet event for Anderson Kelliher at her Rochester home, but said she is waiting before she decides who to endorse.

Sviggum considering run for governor

Former GOP Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum said yesterday he is "interested" in running for governor. The Kenyon resident is currently serving as the state's commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry.

"At this point, I have an interest in exploring a run for governor. But I would also tell you that I need to judge and make an analysis of if anybody has any interest in me," Sviggum said.

Here's a link to today's story about Sviggum.

Since Gov. Tim Pawlenty's announcement Tuesday that he was not seeking a third term, Republicans have been coming out of the woodwork voicing interest in the 2010 race. House Minority Leader Marty Seifert of Marshall has already announced he is stepping down from his leadership post to consider a run. And while it is probably best not to read too much into a Twitter post, Republican Rep. Paul Kohls of Victoria posted this tweet this morning:

"Thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement and support over the past couple of days. More to come very soon!"

Hmmmm....

Of course, there is already a slew of Democrats who have announced or are considering a run for governor. They include House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, former Minnesota House Leader Matt Entenza, former state Sen. Steve Kelley, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. There are also a slew of current state lawmakers in the running including Rep. Paul Thissen, Sen. Tom Bakk and Sen. John Marty.