By any reasonable standard the Minnesota Sex Offender Program has been an unmitigated failure. In its nearly two decades, it has failed to rehabilitate a single patient. The only people who have graduated from the program have done so in body bags. Since its [...]
Michele Bachmann is the most politically vulnerable member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation in 2010, according to the latest analysis from the Cook Political Report. The beltway publication lists the Sixth Congressional District seat as “leaning Republican.”
Only one other Minnesota contest makes the list of competitive House [...]
Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s 2012 presidential exploratory tour hits Florida today. There he could face a politically tricky question: Will he back Florida Gov. Charlie Crist or conservative darling Marco Rubio in next year’s U.S. Senate contest?
Crist was initially expected to easily win the [...]
By any reasonable standard the Minnesota Sex Offender Program has been an unmitigated failure. In its nearly two decades, it has failed to rehabilitate a single patient. The only people who have graduated from the program have done so in body bags. Since its establishment in 1993, at least 26 [...]
Photo: Paul Demko, MnIndy
Senate Democrats are salivating at the prospect of attacking Republicans in 2010 who voted against an anti-rape amendment sponsored by Al Franken, reports Politico. The provision, which was supported by 68 senators, would prevent the Department of Defense from contracting with [...]
State Sen. Mike Jungbauer
When state Sen. Michael Jungbauer announced in August that he was running for governor, he stated that God was calling on him to seek the state’s top office. Apparently God had a change of heart.
The Republican from East Bethel announced [...]
This biggest electoral shakeup of 2009's quiet campaign season occurred in Maplewood. Voters ousted Mayor Diana Longrie after four combustible years in office, replacing her with city council member Will Rossbach.MORE »
Byline Minnesota Independent By: Paul [...]
Gov. Pawlenty’s recent efforts to pander to the conservative GOP base is “Romneyesque,” observes veteran Washington Post political reporter Dan Balz. He warns that Pawlenty is in danger of losing his political compass as he attempts to position himself for a 2012 presidential bid.
In particular, Balz [...]
Complaints that supporters of instant-runoff voting misled St. Paul voters will be heard by a three-judge panel. Administrative Law Judge Kathleen Sheehy ruled on Friday that sufficient evidence exists that the St. Paul Better Ballot Campaign violated state statutes to merit a full hearing [...]
Will Rossbach and Diana Longrie
This biggest electoral shakeup of 2009’s quiet campaign season occurred in Maplewood. Voters ousted Mayor Diana Longrie after four combustible years in office, replacing her with city council member Will Rossbach.
The decision of city council member Eric Hjelle not [...]
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is running for governor. The development comes as no surprise. Political observers predicted it for months. Rybak hardly hid his interest in seeking the state's top office. He even garnered a union [...]
Brian Sullivan is not running for governor. If that news sounds familiar, it’s because the conservative businessman initially announced that he’d be sitting out the 2010 contest in June during an appearance on Minnesota Public Radio.
But in recent weeks speculation has grown that Sullivan, a Republican National Committee member, [...]
Complaints that supporters of instant-runoff voting misled St. Paul voters will be heard by a three-judge panel. Administrative Law Judge Kathleen Sheehy ruled on Friday that sufficient evidence exists that the St. Paul Better Ballot Campaign violated state statutes to merit a full hearing on the matter.
The [...]
Photo: Minnesota Independent
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is running for governor. The development comes as no surprise. Political observers predicted it for months. Rybak hardly hid his interest in seeking the state’s top office. He even garnered a union endorsement for the office that he wasn’t [...]
There is a grassroots effort underway to draft Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher to run for governor. The campaign has set up Facebook and Twitter accounts to generate momentum for a gubernatorial bid. There’s also an online petition that Fletcher supporters can sign.
The “Draft [...]
Gov. Tim Pawlenty unveiled a proposal on Tuesday to amend the state’s constitution in order to keep a lid on government spending. His plan would cap the size of the state’s general fund budget at the amount of revenue received in the previous two year cycle. [...]
Gov. Tim Pawlenty believes Minnesota has a “binge” spending problem. In order to fix this addiction, he’s proposing a rather radical solution: an amendment to the state’s constitution that would strictly limit future expenditures.
Pawlenty unveiled the proposal at a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning.
Under his [...]
Is the honeymoon over already for Gov. Tim Pawlenty? The Republican has largely been receiving accolades from the national media as he’s bolstered his profile with cable television appearances and laid the groundwork for a potential 2012 presidential bid. But influential Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza takes [...]
Gov. Tim Pawlenty travels to Iowa this weekend to headline a Republican fundraiser, simply the latest evidence that he’s seriously eyeing a 2012 run for president. But according to the latest poll looking at potential GOP presidential contenders, Pawlenty continues to lag [...]
Is state Rep. Laura Brod still mulling a bid for governor? The Republican from New Prague previously dropped out of the race, citing health concerns, but has long been rumored to be eyeing a return to the contest.
Earlier today, though, Politics in Minnesota reported that [...]
City Council incumbents Don Samuels (Ward 5) and Barb Johnson (Ward 4)
So much for election night drama in Minneapolis. Despite more than 50 candidates vying for 13 posts on the Minneapolis City Council, only two [...]
St. Paul voters narrowly chose to adopt instant-runoff voting on Tuesday. But opponents of the ballot measure plan to challenge the validity of the result.
In the waning days of the campaign, the No Bad Ballots Committee filed a pair of grievances with the Office of [...]
Will Rossbach and Diana Longrie
Will Rossbach avenged his electoral defeat from four years ago, ousting Maplewood Mayor Diana Longrie by a 51-39 percent margin on Tuesday. In the previous campaign, Longrie prevailed with 53 percent of the vote.
Rossbach will likely have a friendly [...]
St. Paul voters overwhelmingly backed Mayor Chris Coleman for a second term on Tuesday. The Democrat garnered support from 69 percent of voters, easily defeating challenger Eva Ng.
“Our work is not done here,” Coleman told supporters gathered in a ballroom at the St. Paul [...]
State Sen. Dick Cohen has been picked to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The committee advises the federal government’s three primary cultural agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of [...]
The personal is apparently political for Minneapolis City Council president Barb Johnson. City Pages reports that the four-term council member, who is locked in a tough, four-way re-election fight, makes some rather dubious campaign expenditures.
Johnson charged her campaign $1,154 for hairdresser appointments and $986 for [...]
The knives are out in the battle over instant-runoff voting (IRV) in St. Paul. The No Bad Ballots Committee has filed a second complaint alleging nefarious campaign practices by supporters of a ballot measure that would adopt the new voting system.
At issue is a mailing that [...]
Dan Powers will seek the DFL endorsement to take on U.S. Rep John Kline in the Second Congressional District. The construction contractor and Burnsville resident argues that the four-term Republican incumbent is out of [...]
Delray Rokke and Ken Smart didn’t make the cut during last month’s primary election in Maplewood. Smart finished third in a seven-candidate mayoral field, while Rokke took fifth in the contest for two city council posts.
But Smart and Rokke are not accepting defeat. The political allies [...]
The battle over instant-runoff voting in St. Paul is getting heated. The No Bad Ballots Committee, which is advocating against adopting the new voting system, has filed a grievance with the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings alleging that supporters of the ballot measure are knowingly making false claims in [...]
Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is the top choice of roughly one third of Republicans for the presidential nomination in 2012, according to a new CNN poll. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was the second most popular choice, with support from 25 [...]
On a recent Tuesday afternoon roughly three dozen Democratic activists and donors gathered in the 52nd-floor office of Vance Opperman in downtown Minneapolis. Opperman, the founder of Key Investment, director of TCF Financial and a longtime [...]
Assistant St. Paul Police Chief Matt Bostrom is likely to challenge Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher in 2010. Bostrom filed campaign papers with the Ramsey County Elections office today and will begin raising money for the contest. The challenger already boasts an impressive array of [...]
Minnesota is among 22 states that have had to borrow money from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits during the ongoing economic crisis. The state’s unemployment insurance system is currently more than $155 million in debt, according to a new report.
ProPublica originally reported on [...]
Minneapolis City Hall. Photo: Wikipedia
Minneapolis is the safest city in America, according to Forbes. The ranking was based on crime rates, traffic deaths, workplace fatalities and risk of natural disasters. The Minneapolis metropolitan area ranked in the top 10 nationwide in [...]
Dan Powers will seek the DFL endorsement to take on U.S. Rep John Kline in the Second Congressional District. The construction contractor and Burnsville resident argues that the four-term Republican incumbent is out of touch with his constituents.
“Honestly there is a job that needs to be [...]
Mark Dayton
AFSCME Council 5, the state’s largest union for public employees, has endorsed former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton for governor.
“Mark Dayton has won statewide elections — twice,” said Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, in a press release announcing the endorsement. “Minnesotans know and like [...]
The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder recently suggested that Tim Pawlenty might want to consider skipping the Iowa caucuses in 2012 given the sway that Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee will likely hold with Republican caucus-goers in the Hawkeye State. Today he follows up with [...]
Tim Pawlenty is currently the second most influential Republican in the country, according to the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza. Pawlenty leapfrogged former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the rankings, but was overtaken by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin for the top spot. Cillizza marvels that Pawlenty [...]
On a recent Tuesday afternoon roughly three dozen Democratic activists and donors gathered in the 52nd-floor office of Vance Opperman in downtown Minneapolis. Opperman, the founder of Key Investment, director of TCF Financial and a longtime DFL rainmaker, was joined by some [...]
Photo: MnIndy, Chris Steller
Last year about this time Norm Coleman had his sights set on becoming the next chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The post would have required Coleman to spearhead candidate recruitment and fundraising efforts for the organization. But after a grueling [...]
More than two million pounds of toxic chemicals were dumped into Minnesota's waterways during 2007, according to a new report (pdf) by Environment Minnesota. 3M was by far the most prolific dumper of pollutants, with more than 1 million pounds discharged into [...]
State Sen. Julie Rosen has been generating a lot of speculation lately about her political plans for 2010. Both the governor’s race and the post held by U.S. Rep. Tim Walz have been mentioned as possible targets for the Republican from Fairmont. Right now, however, [...]
Photo: iStockphoto
More than 2 million pounds of toxic chemicals were dumped into Minnesota’s waterways during 2007, according to a new report (pdf) by Environment Minnesota. 3M was by far the most prolific dumper of pollutants, with more than 1 million pounds discharged into the [...]
Lisa Goodman
Conrad Sverkerson is a legendary figure at First Avenue. Conspicuous for his dreadlocks (although more recently sporting a Jewfro), the iconic rock club’s stage manager has spent more than two decades making sure shows go off without a hitch.
Now there’s a movement afoot (or [...]
Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Should Gov. Tim Pawlenty skip the Iowa caucuses? Yes, it’s ridiculously early to be contemplating such questions about the 2012 presidential campaign. But The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder raises that question in a post today. He notes that only candidates with strong Christian [...]
Minneapolis City Council debates are generally polite, drowsy affairs. But Ward Five has a reputation for boisterous, even unruly, political discourse.MORE »
Byline Minnesota Independent By: Paul Demko Copyright: ©2009 Minnesota Independent [...]Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be in Newport Beach, California, this evening for the Western Conservative Political Action Conference. At a “private VIP” reception this evening he’ll be sharing the dais with former eBay chief executive and California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman. But it’s another, less-heralded speaker on [...]
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was the top choice of 29 percent of Republican voters to be the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, according to a new national survey by Rasmussen Reports. Finishing a close second, with support from 24 percent of those polled, [...]
Photo: Minnesota Independent
Michele Bachmann raised $345,000 in the the third quarter of 2009 — slightly more than Democratic challenger Tarryl Clark. The Sixth Congressional District incumbent had just over $600,000 in the bank at the end of September, as reported by The St. Cloud Times.
Clark [...]
