Political Notebook

DFLers rally for Dayton in Rochester

DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton wrapped up his statewide fly-around this evening at the Rochester International Airport. An enthusiastic crowd of supporters greeted him filling the airport's conference room to capacity.

Joining Dayton for the rally was his running mate Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon, 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz, Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Rochester Rep. Tina Liebling and AFL-CIO Minnesota Chapter President Shar Knutson. Throughout the rally, speakers emphasized that Dayton is the candidate who will look at for the middle class.

"For middle class Minnesotans, the number one issue for them is jobs. And we have a candidate for governor who has experience in creating jobs and he has a plan to make sure Minnesotans get back to work," Knutson said.

Dayton told the crowd he has long recognized the importance of Rochester as home to the Mayo Clinic. He remembered when he was  6- or 7-years-old and traveling to Rochester because his younger sister had vision problem. Mayo Clinic's treatment restored his sister's vision.

Looking ahead, he said the key to helping Rochester and Minnesota remain competitive is to focus on education.

"It is so crucial we restore that commitment through early childhood education, kindergarten through 12th grade, higher education so that we can continue to educate young people for the challenges and the environment of competing in a global economy," Dayton said.

Republican 1st District candidate Randy Demmer had his own rally nearby at the Rochester International Events Center on Monday night.

Rochester gets plenty of attention in final campaign push

In advance of tomorrow's election, gubernatorial and congressional candidates are busy traveling across the state including making stops in Rochester. The visits kick off at 11:45 a.m. today when IP gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner will rally voters at the Peace Plaza in Rochester. The Horner campaign has three buses traveling the state as part of its get-out-the-vote efforts. Horner will be on the bus headed to Rochester.

At 12:15 p.m., GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer and Gov. Tim Pawlenty will fly in to the Rochester International Airport as part of a statewide fly-around tour. At 6:45 p.m., DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton will also fly in to the Rochester airport. He will be joined by U.S.  Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Also joining Dayton will be DFL 1st Distrit Rep. Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Rochester Sen. Ann Lynch and AFL-CIO Minnesota Chapter President Shar Knutson.

At the same time as the Dayton rally, GOP congressional candidate Randy Demmer will be holding a get-out-the-vote rally of his own at the Rochester International Events Center.

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.

Kelliher touts her support for Mayo Clinic

DFL-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher stopped in Rochester today to emphasize her support for a plan to expand Medicaid in order to tap into $1.4 billion in federal money. That would spare Mayo Clinic and Mayo Health System from an estimated $20 million to $25 million in cuts.

"These are our dollars we're sending to Washington D.C. I think we should bring them right back here. This money will be used to protect and create 22,000 jobs — jobs for nurses, physical therapists, doctors, health care providers, lab technicians across the state," Kelliher said.

She was joined by Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, and House Assistant Majority Leader Andy Welti, DFL-Plainview.

As part of the final budget deal, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the next governor have the option of enrolling in an early expansion of Medicaid. The bill passed included $188 million in state revenue that could be used to get the federal money. Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer has said if elected he would not support opting in to what he calls "Obamacare." He said if the state enrolls it would lose the opportunity to enact health care reforms.

But Democrats are clearly hoping to win voter support in southeast Minnesota by focusing on the financial impact on Mayo Clinic. Kelliher went after Pawlenty, Emmer and GOP congressional candidate Randy Demmer for opposing the early expansion of Medicaid.

"Right now, Tim Pawlenty, Tom Emmer and Randy Demmer are all using inflated partisan language to really I think mischaracterize this issue for political reasons," she said.

As a side note, Kelliher had initially been scheduled to have the press conference at Mayo Clinic's Feith Family Statuary Park with the bronze statues of the Mayo brothers in the background. But it was changed this morning to the Olmsted County DFL headquarters. Kelliher's campaign said it was "due to inclement" weather. But it is worth noting the Mayo Clinic generally has a policy prohibiting political campaign events on its campus.

A budget passed by sunrise

In the final minutes of the legislation session, DFL lawmakers and the governor reached a deal to balance the state’s $3 billion budget deficit, but it required overtime to make it happen.
One minute after the legislative deadline of midnight, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty called an immediate special session with the goal of passing the deal by sunrise.
“This is a good result for the people of Minnesota. It’s a bipartisan result that reflects the priorities of the people in the state,” Pawlenty said.
Democrats also praised the agreement.
“We have no cuts to nursing homes, no cuts to K-12 education. Our schools will be paid back,” said DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher.
Under the deal, lawmakers would approve the majority of the governor’s unilateral budget cuts from last summer. Those cuts were set to unravel after the Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled the governor exceeded his authority when he made those cuts. The deal also includes a $1.9 billion delay in funds to K-12 schools that would have to be paid back in 2012-2013.
The biggest sticking point centered around health care.
Democrats backed off their demand that the state spend $188 million to expand its Medical Assistance program for low-income Minnesotans to tap into $1.4 billion in federal money. Instead, they agreed to a deal where the governor and the next governor would have the authority to opt-in to the program. That authority would expire on Jan. 15, 2011. The plan also includes changes to a recent compromise to keep a health care program for the poor. The changes to the General Assistance Medical Care program are aimed at providing additional funds for out-state hospitals.

DFL leaders say it's time for Pawlenty to 'provide leadership'

DFL legislative leaders responded to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a budget bill with a letter of their own. In it, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller and House Majority Leader Margaret Anderson Kelliher say they had hoped that governor would "put aside your rigid ideology and political concerns and address the state's pressing fiscal issues."

Pawlenty vetoed the budget proposal opposing a provision that would have raised income tax rates on wealthier Minnesotans.

In the DFL leaders letter, they go on to ask the governor to "provide leadership" and put forward his own plan to solve the state's $3 billion budget deficit entirely with cuts. Lawmakers say they are not willing to support delaying $1.7 billion in payments to K-12 schools unless there is a way to pay it back.

Click here to Download DFL veto response

Roch caucus wrap-up: Seifert dominates, Rybak scores victory

Turnout was definitely down at both the Olmsted County DFL and Republican precinct caucuses when compared to the 2008 presidential year. Still, those who showed up proved to be motivated.

At the Republican caucus, state Rep. Marty Seifert dominated in the non-binding straw poll. Seifert ended up leading by a 2 to 1 margin in Olmsted County over the second-place finisher, state Rep. Tom Emmer. Statewide, Seifert won with slightly more than 50 percent of the vote. Emmer in second with roughly 40 percent.

Among Democrats, perhaps the most telling total in Olmsted County was the number of uncommitted voters. While Rybak won the gubernatorial straw poll in Olmsted County with roughly 23 percent, second place went to uncommitted voters with 17 percent of votes cast. It is worth noting DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton was not on the straw poll ballot because he plans to run in the primary. Third place went to Matt Entenza with roughly 13 percent.

Statewide, Rybak and Margaret Anderson Kelliher scored the most votes with Rybak getting nearly 22 percent and Kelliher getting 20 percent.

Kelliher campaign, state DFL fined $24,000

The state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board handed out a total of $24,000 in fines to DFL gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher and the state DFL Party.

The board determined that Kelliher's campaign and the state DFL Party violated two campaign finance laws when they allowed Kelliher supporters to pay for access to a state voter database. The Kelliher campaign was fined $9,000 and the state DFL Party was fined $15,000. Here is a link to the decision.

A spokeswoman for fellow DFL gubernatorial candidate Matt Entenza said in a statement that the DFL party action amounted to "an inside job" and a "sweetheart treatment."

“What we have seen in the DFL’s behavior amounts to an ‘inside job,’ that’s unfair to all the other campaigns that played by the rules. DFLers are supposed to stand up against special interests – certainly Matt Entenza has been doing that his entire career in public service. In this case, the DFL clearly favored one candidate over nine others – all of whom have given years of service to the Party. The Party leadership still has a lot of explaining to do to those candidates who have not been privy to their sweetheart treatment," said campaign spokeswoman Bridget Cusick.

DFL Party Chair Brian Melendez said in a statement that the DFL recognizes that mistakes were made.

"The DFL Party receives the Campaign Finance Board's ruling today in the same spirit in which we have approached this entire matter: with acknowledgment of the mistake, a desire to rectify that mistake, and willingness to accept the consequences. We appreciate the Board's acknowledgment that the Party cooperated fully in the Board's investigation, and that 'a violation ... may occur even if the participants believed that their course of conduct as permitted' under the law, as was the case here. We also appreciate the expeditious manner in which the Board investigated and ruled on this matter, so that this inadvertent error will not distract voters from the important task of choosing a governor who will address the enormous challenges that Minnesota and its citizens are facing."

A fundraising recap

The campaign fundraising totals for gubernatorial candidates are slowly starting to trickle in. Here is a recap of how much candidates have raised so far.

Among Democrats, former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza is leading the pack so far. He reported raising $300,000 last year. In addition to that money, he donated $10,000 of his own money and loaned his campaign $70,000.

Close behind Entenza are two other DFL candidates — state Rep. Paul Thissen and Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Thissen raised $253,000 including $20,000 of his own money. He reported having $85,000 left in the bank. Kelliher raised $245,000 and she donated $250 to her campaign. She has $81,000 left in the bank.

Coming in fourth among Democrats who have disclosed their campaign funds is state Rep. Tom Rukavina. He raised $135,000 and has more than $60,000 in cash on hand.

That leave seven DFLers who have yet to reveal their campaign donation information. They have to file it with the state by the end of the month.

So far, state Rep. Tom Emmer is the lone Republican to release campaign information. He raised $115,000. he is one of seven Republicans vying for the party's endorsement.

Coleman tops GOP gov candidates in new poll

 

Even though he has not announced plans to run, former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman topped other GOP candidates running for governor in a new poll. A Rasmussen Reports poll founds that Coleman would get 50 percent support from likely Republican voters in the state.

That gives Coleman a sizable lead over the other contenders. State Rep. Marty Seifert, who stepped down as House Minority Leader to run for governor, comes in second with 11 percent support. State Rep. Laura Brod, who has not ruled out running for governor, received 5 percent of the vote. State Rep. Tom Emmer got 1 percent. Republican voters backing other candidates amounted to 7 percent.

One of the most interesting numbers in the poll is that 26 percent of GOP voters are undecided. That could leave the door open for a new candidate -— especially if Coleman opts not to run. It begs the question whether Commissioner of Labor and Industry Steve Sviggum might toss his hat in the ring. The former House Speaker found out that federal law prohibited him from running for office while keeping his day job. But he left open the possibility of stepping down and running for office closer to the election.

Among DFL candidates, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak tied for the top spot, each netting 30 percent of the vote from likely Democratic voters. House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher got 8 percent and former state House Minority Leader Matt Entenza received 6 percent. Another 5 percent prefer a different candidate and 20 percent are undecided.

Here is a link to the poll results.