Political Notebook

Demmer raises more than $300,000 in 2nd quarter

Republican congressional candidate Randy Demmer raised $303,641 in the second quarter of 2010, according to his campaign. He has more than $251,000 in cash on hand and has raised a total of more than $375,000 during his election cycle.

Demmer is challenging incumbent DFL Congressman Tim Walz. Fundraising for Walz's re-election campaign are not yet available, but a campaign spokesman said they plan to release them later this afternoon. Fundraising information is also not available yet for Independence Party candidate Steven Wilson and Lars Johnson, who has no party affiliation.

In a news release, Demmer is quoted as saying the campaign contributions exceeded the the campaign's fundraising goals.

"We still have a lot of work to do, but thanks to over 1,000 separate contributors, we are on track and well-positioned heading into the next phase of the campaign," Demmer said.

During the 2008 election, GOP candidate Brian Davis had more than $381,000 in cash on hand at this point in the campaign, which is more than Demmer has at this point. But Davis' contributions included a $124,000 loan from himself to the campaign and an additional $60,000 that he gave to the campaign. Demmer's campaign manager Jason Flohrs said all of the money raised during the 2nd quarter came from donors with no money coming from the candidate.

Tea Party attracts more voters than GOP, new poll finds

Here is an interesting new survey that finds candidates identified with the Tea Party movement draw more voters then the Republican Party.

A new Rasmussen Reports Poll found that in a three-way generic ballot test, a national survey found Democrats attracting 36 percent of voters. The Tea Party candidate drew 23 percent and Republicans finished third with 18 percent. Another 22 percent were undecided.

But perhaps even more significant is the Tea Party's popularity with the all important independent voters. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party garners the most votes. Thirty-three percent of voters questions preferred the Tea Party candidate and 30 percent were undecided. Twenty-five percent said they would vote for a Democrat and 12 percent preferred the Republican.

Here is a link to the new poll.

Hagedorn announces run for Congress

Republican Jim Hagedorn made it official this morning that he is running for the 1st Congressional District seat held by Democrat Tim Walz.

Hagedorn is the son of former Minnesota Congressman Tom Hagedorn. The junior Hagedorn recently moved back to his hometown of Blue Earth to run in the race.

In a news release, Hagedorn is quoted as saying "The greatness of America is under assault by the liberal politicians who run Washington D.C. The big government agenda of President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Tim Walz is in direct conflict with our free enterprise system and the enduring principles of liberty, individual opportunity, personal responsibility and traditional cultural values."

He goes on to call Walz a "thoughtless liberal" and voices concern that the U.S. is headed toward "European socialism."

Hagedorn has spent the past 25 years working on Capitol Hill. He was a former legislative assistant to Minnesota Congressman Arlan Stangeland. He also worked for two agencies of the U.S. Department of Treasury. He is currently working as director of government relations and corporate development for Eltromed,

The news release also outlines Hagedorn's priorities.

"Hagedorn cites his congressional priorities as implementing Reagan/JFK economic policies to help small business create jobs; slashing federal spending through top-to-bottom reviews of all federal agencies, beginning with the Pentagon; limiting government by returning power to the states; restructuring foreign entanglements and defunding “nation building;” and defending the American way of life and traditional culture."

Here is a link to the Web site.

He joins former state Rep. Allen Quist of St. Peter and state Rep. Randy Demmer of Hayfield who have already announced they are running for the Republican nomination.

House DFL jumps into unallotment lawsuit

Minnesota House Democrats voted this morning to wade into the legal fight over Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unilateral budget cuts this summer.

Members of the House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee voted in favor of filing a friend of the court brief in a lawsuit brought by six Minnesotans who are suing Pawlenty over his use of unallotment. The vote was on a party line basis — 14 to 8.

Meanwhile, Rochester Democratic Rep. Tina Liebling has said she thinks the legislature is not going far enough. She said she supports the idea of the legislature suing the governor.

"I believe that there is a very strong legal basis for it. I believe what the governor did was illegal and possibly unconstitutional and needs to be challenged in court," Liebling said.

Here is a link to that story.

Anderson makes campaign official, courts "Tea Party" vote

Republican Pat Anderson stopped in Rochester today as part of a 14-city tour to kick off her gubernatorial campaign. The former State Auditor described herself as a "pro-liberty conservative," who embraces fiscal responsibility, the free-market system and individual responsibility.

Anderson has been busy courting members of the Tea Party movement. Anderson unveiled some of her policy ideas. They include eliminating the corporate income tax, lowering marginal tax rates across the board and expanding the sales tax base. She said that change would make Minnesota's business climate more competitive. She said she also supports school vouchers and getting rid of special tax benefits and subsidies that unfairly benefit some businesses and not others.

"It is a time to choose between a pro-liberty conservative approach to governing and the collectivist world view that would elevate the collective good over individual sovereignty, the needs of the state over the sanctity of private property, and the arbitrary desires of legislators over the rule of law," Anderson said.

She does share the socially conservative values of some of her fellow candidates including opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

Local Republican leaders line up behind Seifert

Today, Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall unveiled a list of his backers from southeast Minnesota in his quest for the governor's mansion. The individuals are part of Seifert's "Southeast Minnesota Leadership Team."

Among the Rochester big hitters on the list are: Republican Party of Olmsted County Co-Chair Bruce Kaskubar, former Rep. Fran Bradley, former Rep. Carla Nelson, former state Senate candidate Dr. Scott Wright and 1st Congressional District Republicans Vice-Chair Duane Quam.

Seifert made the announcement during a live chat on his Web site. Here is the complete list of 23 supporters.

*Chuck Bradford – Mantorville, Chairman Dodge County Republicans, Deputy Chair 1st Congressional District Republicans
*Fran Bradley – Rochester, former State Representative
*Mike Falk- Albert Lea, Activist, Youth for McCain State Co-Chair 2008
*Katie Gottwalt – Mankato, Vice Chair Minnesota State-Mankato College Republicans
*Jerry Groebner – Madison Lake, Chairman Blue Earth County Republicans
*Bruce Kaskubar, Rochester, Chairman Olmsted County Republicans
*Bob Kierlin, Winona, Former State Senator, Founder of Fastenal
*Tom Kuntz – Owatonna, Mayor
*Mary Myers – Mankato, Republican National Alternate ’80, ’84, Local Reagan Chair
*Carla Nelson – Rochester, former State Representative
*Jerry Pappenfuss- Winona, business owner, past MN Broadcasters assoc. President
*Sean Paskach – Mankato, executive director Minnesota State-Mankato College Republicans
*Andru Peters- Lake City, Goodhue County BPOU state delegate
*Mark Piepho – Mankato, former State Representative and State Senator
*Robert F. Pierret – Mankato, longtime activist
*Aaron Pilcher- Waseca, Waseca County Activist
*Duane Quam – Byron, former Chair 1st Congressional District Republicans
*Dustin Quimby – Albert Lea, former Treasurer 1st Congressional District Republicans
*Lewis Reiman – Utica, former candidate State House
*Michelle Rifenberg- La Crescent, former State Representative, Former Deputy Chair Minnesota Republican Party
*Connie Ruth – Owatonna, former State Representative
*Howard Swenson – Nicollet, former State Representative
*Dr. Scott Wright – Rochester, former State Senate candidate
 

Local Tea Party group launches 'October Suprise'

Members of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots have organized a week of events to protest Presidents Obama's efforts to overhaul the nation's health reform. The series of events, dubbed "October Surprise," kicked off yesterday with about a dozen Tea Party Patriots waving signs along the 2nd Street Southwest bridge over U.S. 52.

Today, the group plans to protest at 2nd St. S.W. and Broadway over the lunch hour and later this afternoon they are scheduled to decorate cars and drive around town. Registered nurse Rita Gillmore was among those rallying against health reform yesterday. She said she is worried about the changes will end up hurting the health care system.

"We're going to lose our freedom of choice," Gillmore said. "I don't know how in the world we'll pay for it."

The Rochester Tea Party Patriots have been quite active on health care reform and are now focusing other issues, including the cap-and-trade bill. Here is a link to their calendar of activities.

Ultimately, it will be interesting to see whether this party ends up embracing local Republican candidates in the upcoming election or opts for other candidates. The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about how the tea party movement is causing headaches for the GOP nationally. The reason? They are backing candidates they see as more ideologically pure instead of candidates backed by the Republican Party who are deemed more likely to win. Here's a link to the article. 

Meanwhile, supporters of health care reform will speak out at 5 p.m. today. Members of the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council will gather at the Rochester Labor Temple with the message "Don't throw away health care reform."

Nurses rally against health care cuts, endorse Thissen

The Minnesota Nurses Association is rallying at the state Capitol today to protest health care cuts made by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.A flier about the rally states in bold print at the top "Don't let him get by with it!"

To help balance the state budget, Pawlenty opted to use his uanallotment authority to cut the program beginning in March 2010. GAMC provides subsidized health care for 30,000 low-income Minnesotans.

The association says that many of the people on the plan are veterans, senior cities, people with mental illness and people who are homeless. They estimate that 70 percent of those served have mental health or chemical dependency problems. Members are being encouraged to wear red and make signs for the rally. Click here to Download Nurse rally flier .

The Minnesota Nurses Association also announced they are endorsing state DFL Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis. Thissen is chair of the House Health and Human Services Policy Committee.

In a news release, MNA President-Elect Linda Hamilton is quoted as saying "“Paul Thissen is a champion for Registered Nurses. From his work to make sure all children have health insurance, to his advocacy of adequate RN staffing for patient safety, he exemplifies the characteristics we expect of a Governor."

The association represents more than 20,000 nurses.

Walz to hold town hall on Afghanistan in Winona

1st District Rep. Tim Walz is hosting a town hall forum on Friday at Winona State University to get residents' input on the war in Afghanistan. The event will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Somsen Auditorium.

The town hall comes as President Obama is deciding whether to send more troops to the region following a grim assessment by Gen. Stanley McChrystal of conditions on the ground. Obama is meeting with Congressional leaders today from both parties to discuss the war strategy.

Walz recently traveled to Afghanistan and met with McChrystal. The Democrat from Mankato said he is "not yet convinced" about the need for more troops. Here is an article I wrote about his trip.

"Afghanistan is one of the most important issues that we face today," Walz said. "The lives of our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives, our friends and neighbors are on the line and we owe our brave men and women in uniform a fully engaged public debate on the future of our strategy there."

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.