Political Notebook

Moen officially announces he'll challenge Nelson

With a crowd of roughly 20 supporters looking on, Rochester trial attorney Ken Moen announced he is running against GOP Sen. Carla Nelson. The Democrat said he was inspired to run after watching the lead up to the government shutdown and the refusal of Nelson to support tax increases to help balance the budget.

"I thought that was very poor representation, and now we've got a bigger hole to dig ourselves out of as a result of what didn't happen," Moen said.

He also blasted Nelson for not supporting the Mayo Civic Center expansion and having "fled from serving on the health and human services committee despite the fact that she represents a community with the Mayo Clinic, the state's largest private employer."

In an interview before today's official announcement, Nelson disputed Moen's claim she does not support the Mayo Civic Center expansion.

Moen said his 34 years of experience as a trial lawyer make him a "seasoned negotiator," which will help him as a legislator. He also emphasized he is willing to compromise

"We cannot continue to be represented by people who only vote "no" and refuse to make a credible effort for the citizens, employers and interests of their districts," he said.

Lynch not running for Senate again

Former DFL Sen. Ann Lynch said in an interview this afternoon she does not plan to run again for the Senate.

"I am moving on. I can't underscore enough that I am so proud of the work that was accomplished during my tenure, and it was a privilege to work with the community," the Rochester Democrat said.

Republican Sen. Carla Nelson defeated the one-term lawmaker last year with 54 percent of the vote.

Lynch said at this point she is exploring her options and has yet to make any decisions about her next career move. Her announcement comes as Rochester DFL trial attorney Ken Moen is expected to announce tomorrow he will run against Nelson.

Moen to run against Nelson

Rochester trial attorney Ken Moen is expected to announce tomorrow that he will run against Republican Sen. Carla Nelson for the Senate District 30 seat. Moen, a Democrat, is expected to announce his candadicy at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Government Center in Rochester.

Moen has long been involved in DFL politics helping campaigns behind the scenes. That includes helping with the late Sen. Paul Wellstone's campaigns, along with supporting DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken. This is the first time he has run as a candidate. He registered a campaign committee with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board last week.

Nelson was elected last year to the Senate after defeating DFL Sen. Ann Lynch. Nelson previously served in the Minnesota House from 2003 to 2004. Lynch has expressed interest in running for the seat again. She sent out a fundraising letter last spring.

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

Nelson hosts 'listen-in' meeting on Saturday

Newly-elected Republican Sen. Carla Nelson of Rochester announced she will host a "listen-in" meeting at a local grocery store.

The meeting will be from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Hy-Vee South, 500 Crossroads Dr. S.W., in Rochester. The goal of the event is to get public input on the legislative session. Residents are encouraged to turn out and share their thoughts.

Nelson responds to DFL attack ad

Republican Senate District 30 candidate Carla Nelson is firing back in the wake of a Minnesota DFL-sponsored direct ad that accuses her of cutting education funding. I wrote about the DFL ad yesterday.

In an e-mail, Nelson said that she believes the ad is misleading. The ad accuses her of voting in favor of cutting $185 million in education spending. Nelson argues that what she voted for was not really a cut because it was simply less than the higher amount the DFL wanted to spend on education. She adds that this came at a time when the state was facing a $4.2 billion budget deficit. Nelson said she approached her vote with two goals: protecting education and not raising taxes.

She writes: "It was a tough time for the state, and no one is claiming education received new funds. But education has been protected from cuts (although not freezes). And it has received new funds when economic times are good. Balancing the budget in 2003 without killing the economy through new taxes and without cuts to education was an accomplishment considering that K-12 education is about 40 percent of the state budget. It is also reasonable to expect our schools to deal with pay freezes, etc. just as Minnesota residents and taxpayers must do when the overall economy is struggling."

The argument over what exactly is a "cut" is a frequent one at the state Capitol. I did find this budget document from the Minnesota House's Fiscal Analysis Department which does show on page 6 that the FY 2004-2005 budget approved was less than the anticipated budget increase. Click here to Download 2003 budget summary

A Post-Bulletin story from May 23, 2003 reports that lawmakers approved a 2 percent cut to the expected amount of spending for education from 2004 to 2005.

 Nelson also goes after her opponent DFL Sen. Ann Lynch saying she supported a $1 billion cut to education in 2009 and that that cut was projected to cost the Rochester School District nearly $19 million over two years. It should be noted that bill did not pass.

One things for sure — voters can expect plenty of fierce campaigning in the days to come as this race clearly has become a priority for Republicans and Democrats.

Nelson endorsed by Minnesota Chamber of Commerce PAC

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Leadership Fund PAC announced it is endorsing Republican Senate District 30 candidate Carla Nelson over DFL incumbent Sen. Ann Lynch.

The fund contributes to "pro-business, pro-jobs" candidates running for state office. In a news release, the fund's chairman Scott Thiss said this about Nelson's endorsement.

"Our endorsement informs the Minnesota business community of your commitment to building upon and improving the state's business and economic environment. We have the confidence that you are the kind of pro-business leader to lead Minnesota's economic recovery."

Nelson is a former state representative from Rochester.

Lynch has worked hard to win the support of Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce members. She has emphasized her efforts to get state bonding dollars for local projects supported by the chamber, such as the Mayo Civic Center expansion. Lynch served on the bonding bill conference committee.

The chamber PAC tends to endorse Republicans. Other area Republican candidates winning the PAC's endorsement are Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem of Rochester, Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing and Rep. Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa.

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.

Nelson considering running for Lynch's seat

Former Republican state Rep. Carla Nelson is considering running for the Senate District 30 seat held by Rochester DFL Sen. Ann Lynch.

In an interview today, Nelson said she was asked to consider running after Rochester businessman Jim Gander announced he was dropping out of the race to focus on his business.

"I see the need and I have the experience and the connections and the passion and the interest, so I am giving it some great, great thought," she said.

In 2002, Nelson won election to the House 30A seat. She lost her re-election bid in 2004 to Democrat Tina Liebling. Two years later, she lost her attempt to reclaim the seat from Liebling.

Since getting out of politicals, Nelson said she has been focusing on getting her insurance business up and running. She said she knew it would take about five years to get the business to take off. With her business established, she said she has the opportunity to consider running for the seat. She said she expect to make a final decision within a few days.

"The times are so critical that we absolutely have to get a senator that understands the proper role of government and understands the importance of jobs and the economy and how tax structure affects that and we don't really have that right now," she said.