Political Notebook

A look at how much campaigns raised in Rochester

The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board today released the latest campaign finance reports covering the 2010 elections. Here is a quick look at how much Rochester area legislative candidates raised and spent on the race.

A couple of interesting things to note. Former DFL Rep. Andy Welti of Plainview outspent his GOP opponent Rep. Mike Benson by nearly $15,700. But it is important to keep in mind that plenty of money outside the campaigns flowed into that race in the final days. The challenge is getting a real sense of where all that money came from and how much was spent.

Also GOP Sen. Carla Nelson raised more than $69,000 beating out former DFL Sen. Ann Lynch, who raised nearly $56,500. But they both spent roughly $65,000 on the race. Similar to the Benson/Welti race, this race also attracted plenty of dollars from around the state.

Here are the fundraising totals for Rochester area legislative candidates.

Senate District 29
Greg French, DFL-Byron
Total receipts: $14,937
Total expenditures: $14,932

*David Senjem, R-Rochester
Total receipts: $44,468
Total expenditures: $41,193

House District 29A
*Duane Quam, R-Byron
Total receipts: $22,108
Total expenditures: $19,853

Doug Wunderlich, DFL-Mantorville
Total receipts: $12,374
Total expenditures: $13,610 (includes $1,000 loan)

House District 29B
*Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester
Total receipts: $30,464
Total expenditures: $33,856

Mike Rolih, R-Rochester
Total receipts: $24,883
Total expenditures: $24,339

Senate District 30
Ann Lynch, DFL-Rochester
Total receipts: $56,464
Total expenditures: $65,008

*Carla Nelson, R-Rochester
Total receipts: $69,113
Total expenditures: $65,996

House District 30A
*Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester
Total receipts: $27, 483
Total expenditures: $32,262

Charlie O’Connell

UPDATE: O'Connell turned in his report by the deadline but it was not posted online until today.

Total receipts: $100

Total expenditures: $3,038 with funding coming from O'Connell.

House District 30B
*Mike Benson, R-Rochester
Total receipts: $22,491
Total expenditures: $22,939

Andy Welti, DFL-Plainview
Total receipts: $25,129
Total expenditures: $38,627

* Winner of the 2010 election

Tea Party forum? Local DFLers say thanks but no thanks

All of Rochester's DFL incumbents signed a letter declining to participating in a candidate forum sponsored by the Rochester Tea Party Patriots. In the letter, the lawmakers thank the group for hosting the forum but add that they hope their members will take advantage of one of the "neutral forums" being held. The lawmakers declining to participate are: Sen. Ann Lynch, Rep. Tina Liebling, Rep. Kim Norton and Rep. Andy Welti. Also choosing not to go is the District 29A DFL candidate Doug Wunderlich. Click here to  Download Letter from DFL candidates

One DFL candidate is going to participate. Senate District 29 candidate Greg French, of Byron, has said he plans to attend. The Republicans who have said they will attend are Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem, former state Rep. Carla Nelson, House District 29A candidate Duane Quam, House District 29B candidate Mike Rolih, House District 30A candidate Charlie O'Connell and House District 30B candidate Mike Benson.

Rochester Tea Party Patriots Chair Cindy Maves said the group does not endorse and candidate or party "but endeavors to educate the voters and provide opportunities for them to make the own informed decisions." The group does urge its members in its e-mail news updates to help elect conservative candidates.

The event starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23 with a buffet dinner at Godfather's Pizaa, 1611 16th St. N.W. in Rochester. The forum runs from 7 p.m.t o 8:30 p.m. All candidates will have five minutes to introduce themselves and they will then answer questions from the audience.

A local election wrap-up

Here's a quick recap of the big races. The Associated Press is reporting that Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher has officially conceded to former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton in the DFL gubernatorial race. Statewide, Dayton beat Kelliher by 6,777 votes with 99 percent of precincts reporting. In total, Dayton got 41 percent of the vote and Kelliher got 40 percent. Former state Rep. Matt Entenza came in a distant third with 18 percent.

In Olmsted County, Kelliher narrowly beat Dayton winning by 164 votes.

Republican-endorsed candidate Tom Emmer easily won last night's primary with 82 percent of the vote. That is the same percentage of the vote he got in Olmsted County receiving 3,380 votes.

Independent Party-endorsed candidate Tom Horner got 64 percent of the statewide vote with the second place challenger — Winona-native Rob Hahn — getting 14 percent. Horner did even better in Olmsted County getting 76 percent of the vote.

GOP-endorsed candidate Duane Quam easily defeated challenger Kerry Stoick in the House District 29A Republican primary. He got 66 percent of the vote while Stoick got 34 percent. Quam will now take on DFL-endorsed candidate Doug Wunderlich for retiring GOP Rep. Randy Demmer's seat. Demmer stepped down to run for Congress.

In Senate District 28, DFL-endorsed candidate Joe Fricke had a decisive victory over Bruce Montplaisir getting 75 percent of the vote. Fricke will take on Republican John Howe, current mayor of Red Wing. They are battling to replace retiring DFL Sen. Steve Murphy of Red Wing.

One of the big surprises of the night came in the 2nd Congressional District DFL primary where former state Rep. Shelley Madore beat out the DFL-endorsed candidate Dan Powers. Madore got 55 percent of the vote with Powers getting 45 percent. Madore will challege Republican incumbent Congressman John Kline.

GOP primary debate canceled

  

GOP candidates for the House District 29A seat Kerry Stoick and Duane Quam had been set to square off tomorrow night in a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters Rochester. But that event has been canceled. Quam said he told organizers he had a scheduling conflict and would be unable to participate. The forum organizer Kathy Maegerlein said she became aware of the scheduling problem last week and there are no plans to reschedule a debate before the Aug. 10 primary.

Quam, a longtime party activist, defeated Stoick to win the GOP-endorsement. Stoick, a political newcomer, decided to challenge Quam in the primary. They are vying for the seat held by Rep. Randy Demmer of Hayfield, who is stepping down to run for Congress.

An election suprise — two GOPers to battle for Demmer's seat

In a surprise move, Republican Kerry Stoick filed today to run for House District 29A forcing a GOP primary. The Republican-endorsed candidate is Duane Quam, former chair of the 1st District Republicans who lives in Byron. Quam beat out Stoick and Mantorville City Council member Chuck Bradford for the party's endorsement. The House seat is up for grabs Hayfield Republican Randy Demmer announced he was retiring in order to run for congress.

Stoick— a nurse practitioner — is a newcomer to politics. She has been active in the Rochester Area Republican Women and attended Rochester Tea Party Patriot events. In an interview, Stoick said she believes that primaries are meant to be part of the election process so that voters can have a say on which candidate moves on to the general election.

Some have called the 33-year-old Stoick a younger version of Sarah Palin. At the endorsing convention, Stoick's campaign co-chair Leisa Luis-Grill told the delegates, “She chops her own firewood and shot a rabid raccoon off the front porch to protect the family dog.”

But Stoick dismissed the comparison saying she does not see herself as being that similar to Palin. She said that the former Alaska governor is often seen as a polarizing figure. By contrast, she said she does not consider herself to be polarizing and is willing to work across party lines to get things done.

The DFL-endorsed candidate running is Douglas Wunderlich, a retired teacher and volunteer firefighter.

Local GOP candidates join in mass election filing

A crowd of Republican candidates gathered in St. Paul today as part of a mass election filing. Several area candidates made the trek and joined in a news conference featuring Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer.

Local non-incumbent GOP candidates filing today to run against were Duane Quam for House District 29A, Carla Nelson for Senate District 30, Charlie O'Connell for House District 30A, Mike Benson for House District 30B and Jeremy Miller for Senate District 31. Incumbents at today's mass filing included Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem of Rochester, Rep. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa and Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing.

At an enthusiastic (and very warm!) press conference, Republican candidates this morning compared this year to the GOP's landslide midterm election win in 1994.

"If you can't get excited about this year, your heart is not beating," Senjem told a crowd of enthusiastic candidates and supporters.

Local Republicans running say voters are concerned about government spending.

"The number one issue people are talking about is out-of-control government spending," said Miller, who is running for the seat currently held by Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona.

Benson, who is running against DFL Rep. Andy Welti of Plainview, said he believes voters want change.

"I've knocked on 1,600 doors now, as late as Saturday I knocked on 400, and overwhelmingly the people I've talked to are looking for a new direction," Benson said.

In particular, he said they want lawmakers who will restructure government and lower taxes with the goal of encouraging economic development.

Rochester's endorsementpalooza!

This weekend proved to be big for area endorsements. We now have a better idea of who will be on the ballot this November when it comes to local legislative races. Here's a brief recap.

House District 29A: This is the lone open seat without an incumbent running for re-election. Rep. Randy Demmer, R-Hayfield, has said he is not running and is instead focusing on winning the GOP endorsement for Congress. Democrats endorsed Douglas Wunderlich for the seat. He has long been active in the party. He is a retired teacher and volunteer firefighter who lives in Mantorville. Republicans endorsed Duane Quam, former chair of the First District Republicans. He beat out two other GOP candidates — Chuck Bradford and Kerry Stoick. Quam lives in Byron and is a senior engineer at IBM.

House District 29B: DFL incumbent Rep. Kim Norton was endorsed for the seat. Republicans endorsed former professional baseball player Mike Rolih for the seat.

Senate District 29: Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem of Rochester secured the GOP endorsement. Democrats endorsed Byron driving school owner Greg French.

House District 30A: DFL incumbent Rep. Tina Liebling was endorsed. So far there is not a Republican candidate but party leaders say a few people are considering running.

House District 30B: Democrats endorsed incumbent Rep. Andy Welti of Plainview. Republicans endorsed Rochester business professor Mike Benson.

Senate District 30: incumbent Sen. Ann Lynch received the DFL party endorsement as she seeks a second term. There is no Republican candidate yet that has been endorsed. Former GOP state Rep. Carla Nelson has said she is considering running for the seat.

It's official: Gander drops out, Quam jumps in

Lots of news coming from local Republicans. Last night at the Senate District 30 endorsing convention, Rochester businessman Jim Gander announced he was dropping out of the Senate race. In an e-mail this morning, Gander said he decided not to challenge DFL Sen. Ann Lynch for the seat because he needs to focus on his business, Superior Mechanical.

Here is his statement:

"Yes, I have decided to drop opt of the race. It was a very difficult decision for Lisa and me. However, the good news is Superior Mechanical has rehired most of its people and we have a good amount of work ahead of us for the next year. The economy has taken its toll on many businesses especially the construction businesses. Superior Mechanical has taken on the challenge and reached out beyond its comfort zone both in types of work and in territory. For this reason, I need to respect the lingering effects of the downturn and pay attention to the business of my business. My family is a large one as it includes the families of my employees; all of us need to return to the earning capacity of years before. The 24/7 commitment of the race made the job of running my company impossible."

Republican Party of Olmsted County Co-chair Bruce Kaskubar said there are a couple of people considering running for the seat. College professor Mike Benson scored the endorsement for the House 30B seat and will challenge three-term incumbent Rep. Andy Welti of Plainview.

Former First District Republicans Chair Duane Quam has also announced he is seeking the endorsement for Rep. Randy Demmer's House seat 29A. Demmer announced earlier he would not seek re-election to the seat as he focuses on his congressional bid. Quam has set up a basic Web site. Quam is a senior engineer at IBM at lives in Byron. He will be competing with two other Republicans hoping to get the endorsement this weekend at the GOP District 29 Convention in Byron. They are Mantorville City Council member Chuck Bradford and Oronoco family nurse practitioner Kerry Stoick. No Democrats so far have announced they are running for the seat.

For more on local races and endorsements, check out today's story.

Another GOPer running for Demmer's seat

A second Republican candidate is jumping into the House 29A race with hopes of winning retiring Rep. Randy Demmer's seat.

Kerry Stoick, a family nurse practitioner, has filed for the seat. She grew up in Morris, Minn. and currently lives in Oronoco on a hobby farm with her fiance and five children. She has been active behind-the-scenes in politics, serving as legislative chair for the Association of Southeastern Minnesota Nurse Practitioners. She has also lobbied Congress on health care reform.

In a news release, Stoick said she supports health care reform that does not interfere with the free-market system. In particular, she backs the idea of allowing people to buy insurance across state lines. She also wants to see medical malpractice reform to help bring down health care costs.

She does not support raising taxes to balance the state's budget. Instead, she said it is time to lower corporate tax rates to bring new businesses to the state. She also supports reforming welfare. On her Web site, she questions why an employee drug screen is required by many employers and a similar screen is not required for welfare recipients. Here is her Web site.

Already running for the seat is Dodge County Republicans Chair Chuck Bradford of Mantorville. He is also very active in the Rochester Tea Party Patriots and serves on the Mantorville City Council. He ran for the seat two years ago when Demmer announced he was running for the 1st Congressional District seat. When Demmer lost the party's endorsement, he decided to run for re-election to his House seat and Bradford stepped aside. Demmer is once again running for Congress but has said he has no plans to run for re-election to his seat if he loses this time around. Click here to read more about Bradford.