Political Notebook

Lobbyist who donated to Davids fined

A Minnesota lobbyist has been fined $250 by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board for failing to identify himself as a lobbyist when he donated to Republican Rep. Greg Davids' campaign.

 Catholic United Financial lobbyist Michael McGovern donated $250 to the People for (Gregory) Davids Committee on Jan. 23, according to findings issued by the board on Thursday. But McGovern failed to include his lobbyist registration number on the check. As a result, the Davids campaign classified it as a donation from an individual instead of a lobbyist. That led the campaign to exceed the amount of donations allowed for House candidates from lobbyists, which is limited to $6,900.

McGovern said he registered as a lobbyist in 1998 because as president of the organization he may need to do activities that would fall under lobbying. This year, he was told that the definition of a lobbyist had changed and he no longer believed he fell under that classification. But McGovern did not terminate his lobbyist registration until Aug. 22.

The board cleared Davids' committee of wrong doing because McGovern did not provide his lobbyist identification number when he donated to the committee. Here is a link to the findings and order. Meanwhile, Davids' opponent, former DFL Rep. Ken Tschumper, and  Fillmore County DFL Chairman Dennis DeKeyrel are the subjects of a complaint filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings. Read more about that here.

Garrison Keillor headlines fundraiser for local DFL candidates

A Prairie Home Companion Host Garrison Keillor will headline a fundraiser for DFL candidates in Lanesboro next month.

According to a press release from the Fillmore County DFL, the event will feature plenty of live music. Also sharing the stage with Keillor will be two local DFL candidates — former state Rep. Ken Tschumper of La Crescent and Jack Krage of Winona. Tschumper is challenging Republican Rep. Greg Davids of Preston. Krage is running against 1st-term GOP Sen. Jeremy Miller of Winona.

The event will be at the Lanesboro Community Center on Wednesday, Sept. 19. The doors will open at 6 p.m. and there will be pre-show entertainment provided by several groups including the Rutabaga Brothers and the Rhubarb Sisters. At 7:30 p.m., Keillor is expected to take the stage. The press release adds that "the evening will begin and end with spirited patriotic sing-alongs." Keillor has long been a supporter of the DFL and wrote the book "Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America."

A group opposed to the marriage amendment and another one opposed to the voter ID amendment will also be on hand to pass out information to voters.

The cost is $20 per person at the door — cash or check. There will be no advance ticket sales. All proceeds raised will support Democratic candidates in the 2012 election.

Tschumper considering rematch with Davids

Former DFL state Rep. Ken Tschumper is still trying to decide whether to face-off against Republican Rep. Greg Davids for a third time.

In 2006, Tschumper scored an upset victory over the 16-year veteran beating Davids by a mere 52 votes.  In 2008, Davids reclaimed the seat, beating Tschumper by 407 votes.

Tschumper said he plans to make a final decision this week.

"I have been weighing a lot of things. For a variety of reasons, it's turning out to be a more difficult decision than I thought it would," he said.

One of the reasons it has been difficult has to do with Tschumper's day job as a La Crescent dairy farmer. He said dairy farmers have been hit hard in the economic slowdown. If he were to run for office, he said he would have to hire someone to run his dairy farm for seven months so he could campaign, which would cost $20,000.

"It's not like if you have a law practice and you can lock the door for seven months," he said. "So that is playing into my caution."

Tschumper said he is very concerned about the massive budget deficits facing the state. He said his main motivation for running would be to try and help solve that crisis. To do that, Tschumper said he believes it would require raising more revenue.

"Everybody knows we are going to make some big cuts. But we need need to come up with some additional revenue," he said. "The question is will the governor finally give way on his no-new-taxes pledge or will he run this state into the ground completely," he said.

Another Democrat has already filed to run against Davids for the House 31B seat. Former Houston County DFL Chairman Steve Kemp has announced he is running.