Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/election/page/10/)
It’s election day – although you’d be hard-pressed to find much evidence of that fact. Even Joe Soucheray could be forgiven for failing to remember to vote. Minneapolis has no primary because it’s utilizing instant-runoff voting for the first time. The Minneapolis DFL is holding three events tonight to educate people on the new voting process and will conduct a gubernatorial straw poll. In St. Continue Reading
Voters are going to the polls Tuesday to narrow down the candidates in November’s mayoral race in St. Paul.There are currently four candidates seeking the position, including incumbent DFL Mayor Chris Coleman. The top two vote getters in Tuesday will earn a spot on the ballot Nov. 3.Coleman has already been endorsed by the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation.During his three-year tenure as mayor, some of Coleman’s main priorities included education, sustainability and the Central Corridor light-rail transit project.One of Coleman’s opponents, Eva Ng, has experience in consulting with businesses and in campaign finance, which could be advantageous in balancing and structuring the city’s budget.Ng was born in Hong Kong, and immigrated with her family to the United States at a young age.Ng’s campaign spokesperson Jan Schneider said Ng was disappointed that Coleman didn’t attend a public forum in St. Paul for endorsed mayoral candidates on Sept. Continue Reading
St. Paul city attorney John Choi is seeking a promotion. After three years in his current post, Choi’s wants to become Ramsey County’s top prosecutor.Choi announced his 2010 bid for the Ramsey County Attorney’s office at a press conference today at the Skyline Towers apartment complex in St. Paul. The location was not arbitrary: it’s where Choi’s family initially settled after emigrating from South Korea when he was three years old. Continue Reading
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak told Democrats in Eagan that he is “very likely” to enter the race for Minnesota Governor. Rybak who is also running for reelection as Mayor this fall has often said he is concentrating on his reelection bid, but his actions the last two days indicate he is looking past this fall and to the 2010 Governor’s race.Beyond telling Democrats that he is very likely to run, Rybak sent an email out today that was very critical of Governor Pawlenty. In it Rybak said:”My job as Mayor of Minneapolis is keeping me pretty busy, as you might imagine. Even with the Bush recession and the Pawlenty budget crisis, we’re making Minneapolis a safe place to call home, with crime at its lowest level in decades; we’re creating jobs and opportunity in every community; we’re building great places to strengthen our quality of life, and we’re planning for our children’s future so the city will be even greater for the next generation.”But it’s clear that I can’t let Governor Pawlenty’s version of events go unchallenged. I’ll continue speaking out about what his failed priorities have meant for Minnesota, and setting out an alternative, proven vision based on our accomplishments in Minneapolis.”Governor Pawlenty announced earlier this year that he is not running for reelection leading many people in the DFL and the GOP to enter the race. Continue Reading
Al Flowers considers himself currently in second placeAl Flowers, longtime community activist and the only challenger thus far in the Minneapolis race for mayor against incumbent R.T. Rybak, is the first to admit that he is not a traditional candidate for mayor.“I may not be the perfect candidate,” Flowers says, “but I’m the right candidate to get the word out on what’s happening in Minneapolis and taking care of the citizens.”Henrietta Faulconer, a Minneapolis Northside resident for over 40 years, doesn’t have a problem with this nontraditional candidate. Faulconer, who has memories of Minneapolis during the Plymouth riots in the late 1960s, helped to create The Way community center as a community gathering place.Eight years ago, she says, “Al Flowers came out at a point in time when no one was saying anything. Everybody was getting their little piece of the pie and was very happy about it.“I compare him to Barack Obama in so many ways on the local stage. Barack got out there and raised his voice to open up our eyes to see and mobilize people… Al draws people from all walks of life, and I’m one of them.”Danielle Cameron, also a North Minneapolis Flowers supporter, says that she just recently got involved in the community and is still learning what the community needs. Of her experience so far, she says “The community needs to be okay with diversified cultures… I think he [Flowers] is 110 percent on board with that.”“I live in a predominantly Black community,” Cameron adds, “and I am a White woman. Continue Reading
I find it interesting that our government and media are in a flap because of allegations of election tampering in Iran. Who are we to speak to any other country about election integrity? In 2004, nine people went from Minnesota to Ohio, joining others all over the country because of allegations of election fraud there and elsewhere. I know because I was one of them. the free speech zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the tc daily planet. Continue Reading
Pinch hitters could be called up to help the Minnesota Supreme Court handle Norm Coleman’s election-contest appeal if more justices recuse themselves. Two of the seven high-court justices have already said they won’t deliberate on the case. That’s because Chief Justice Eric Magnuson and Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson served on the State Canvassing Board that oversaw the statewide recount between former Sen. Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken. Now Continue Reading
Franken won. That’s the conclusion of the 68-page ruling handed down Monday evening by the three-judge recount court, completing their work. They wrote:
The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the November 4, 2008 election was conducted fairly, impartially, and accurately. [Citations omitted] … After seven weeks of trial, the factual record is devoid of any allegations of fraud, tampering, or security breaches on Election Day, during the recount process, or during the election contest.To the contrary, the genereal election resulted in a “fair expression” of the voters of Minnesota. Continue Reading
Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he might not sign an election certificate to seat Democrat Al Franken or Republican Norm Coleman in the U.S. Senate, even after the Minnesota Supreme Court is done with the disputed election. “I also would want to look at what the courts did with the case in terms of leaving issues for potential appeal, the strength of those issues, how directly and effectively they addressed them,” Pawlenty told a Minnesota Public Radio call-in audience today “I’m not saying that I’m going to, or not going to, issue the certificate at that point. I just want to make sure I have all the facts in front of me before I made a decision like that.”
It’s the second time in a week that Pawlenty, a Republican and a trained attorney, said he plans to cast himself in the role of judicial critic once the courts issue final rulings on Coleman’s legal challenge to Franken’s recount win. var mnindyHeadline = “MORE FROM”; var mnindyHeadline2 = “Michigan Messenger”;
On April 8, Pawlenty told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that before he signed an election certificate, he would want to “see what the case would look like at that point, in terms of how harshly or strongly the issues have been decided or dealt with by the Minnesota Supreme Court.”
When Maddow asked whether he’d sign the certificate — which the state Supreme Court has said is his duty once the state courts are through with the case — Pawlenty replied: “It’s premature to say that, based on a number of factors. … We just need more information as to evaluating this case.”
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has promised to provide the second required signature on an election certificate after the state Supreme Court takes action on an expected appeal from the election-contest court. Continue Reading