Supreme court race to the finish

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In a race that has recently heated up, Supreme Court Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea and Fourth District Court Judge Deborah Hedlund are battling for the Associate Justice seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court held by Gildea since her appointment by Governor Tim Pawlenty in January 2006. Hedlund has been a trial judge in Minneapolis since 1980. Hedlund, Muslims and controversyHedlund made the news recently over an e-mail that expressed anti-Muslim sentiments. She says she did not read all of the e-mail, which was sent to her and others from a campaign-sign vendor. According to Hedlund, she clicked onto the e-mail and started talking about sign price negotiations, and then mistakenly hit “reply all.” Some readers thought Hedlund’s reply to the sign vendor was an agreement about the anti-Muslim statements. Continue Reading

The battle for the state House: rematches from ‘06

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In 2006 Democrat Ken Tschumper (pictured), a fourth-generation cattle farmer and political neophyte from La Crescent, squared off against eight-term incumbent Gregory Davids. The Republican was a prohibitive favorite to win re-election, but he was dogged by controversy over a Preston tire-burning plant, proposed by his father in law. Davids was accused of intimidating critics of the controversial plant and using his position as a legislator to push the project forward. In the most infamous incident, then-Preston Mayor David Pechulis furtively recorded a phone call during which Davids threatened to sue opponents of the tire-burning plant. The state legislator was particularly incensed about a letter that had recently run in the Republican-Leader newspaper accusing him of “slimeball politics.”
“That’s not acceptable,” Davids said during the phone call, as recounted in a 2004 City Pages cover story. Continue Reading

Voter registration, GOP style in Minnesota

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Minnesota Public Radio’s Tim Nelson recently wrote that “more than 100,000 Minnesotans have signed up to vote in this year’s elections, half of them with the help of ACORN [Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now].” Recent controversies over ACORN voter registration efforts highlight differences in approach between Republicans and Democrats on voter registration and Get Out The Vote (GOTV) work. Registering and voting in MinnesotaPre-election voter registration ended October 14. If you are not yet registered, you can register ON ELECTION DAY at your polling place.The Secretary of State’s web site provides the following same-day registration instructions, as well as much more information:If you are not registered to vote or need to update your registration information, you may do so at your local polling location on Election Day. However, you are required to provide proof of residence when registering on Election Day. To register at your polling place on Election Day, you must have one of the following with your current name and address in the precinct to verify your residence:
* A valid Minnesota driver’s license, learner’s permit, Minnesota ID card, or receipt for any of these * A valid student ID card including your photo, if your college has provided a student housing list to election officials * A Tribal ID card that contains your picture and signature * A valid registration in the same precinct under a different name or address * A notice of late registration sent to you by your county auditor or city clerk * A voter registered in the same precinct as you who can confirm your address with a signed oath * An employee of the residential facility where you live who can confirm your address with a signed oath
Alternatively, you may provide both 1) a photo ID from the list below, and 2) a current bill with your current name and address in the precinct. Continue Reading

Republican former Governor Arne Carlson endorses Obama

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“Instead of offering a national vision for our nation, Senator McCain has resorted to smear tactics in an effort to scare voters and stir up the right-wing base,” said Republican former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson on October 23, in a surprise endorsement issued at the State Capitol. “Senator Obama has been a remarkably disciplined and focused leader who will become a truly great president. There is no doubt that Senator Barack Obama is the right choice for president in these challenging times.”
Carlson was a Republican politician and office-holder in Minnesota for more than 40 years, beginning in the Minneapolis City Council in 1965 and ending as governor from 1991-1999. In a wide-ranging telephone interview, Carlson said the question of when he decided to endorse Obama had two parts: when he decided and when he decided to go public. He decided to endorse Obama during the Republican National Convention, Carlson said, because it was clear that John McCain’s choice of Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate was made to “excite the base” and without regard for “the well-being of the nation.” Continue Reading

Minnesota judicial races: Evangelical Supreme Court candidate tells anti-Muslim correspondent ‘We speak the same language’

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Deborah Hedlund, a candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court, received an anti-Muslim email from a campaign vendor, Matt Look, that said, “Can Muslims Be Good Americans?” the Pioneer Press reports. The email continued, “Perhaps we should be suspicious of all Muslims in this country. They obviously cannot be both ‘good’ Muslims and good Americans. … And Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our President? You have GOT to be kidding! Continue Reading

Obama outpost opens in the heart of Rondo

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A critical campaign outpost for Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign opened at 924 Selby Avenue in St. Paul last weekend, Sat., October 4. The location lends itself to several highly important voting groups from the University, Selby, Summit, Grand Ave., and Cathedral Hill neighborhoods, all of which compose the more properly known Rondo neighborhood. The intersection of Selby Ave. and Milton St. Continue Reading

Veteran anti-war icon visits the Twin Cities

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Speaking without a microphone, clearly tired from five previous speaking engagements that day, an anti-war icon from the 60’s clearly engaged a predominately college-aged audience in St. Paul. A founder of Students For a Democratic Society (SDS), co-defendant in the classic trial against political dissent, The Chicago 8 (or 7 after the racist Judge, Julius Hoffman, bound and gagged Black Panther leader, Bobby Seale, and then removed him from the courtroom), former California state legislator, and author, Tom Hayden is travelling the country helping build a movement to hold our next President accountable. The Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. Continue Reading

Obama campaign attracts committed young voters

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The Barack Obama presidential campaign is setting records in promoting grassroots participation and involvement in the political process. The early caucus and primary attendances were formidable throughout the country. Some polling places reported having run out of ballots and turning people away. It has even given rise to discussion regarding the extension of voting time on a national scale. It can hardly be denied that much of the voting increase was attributable to the abundance of young and other first-time voters stimulated by the Barack Obama campaign. Continue Reading

Walking to the beat of a different drummer

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Americans are often accused of voting, not with their heads, but with their hearts — not to mention other anatomical regions. George W. Bush may have won the last election because he was the candidate most voters preferred to have a beer with. This year’s election might turn on such factors as a taste for moose burgers or the incendiary potential of porcine lipstick. But what about the real issues? The genuine, non-sound-bite-driven issues that face the nation at this critical historic moment? Continue Reading

Ritchie: Changes to Minnesota law should prevent voter-challenge shenanigans and conflicts

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It’s that time again. In the past couple of weeks, the thoughts of the left-lib blogosphere have turned back to fears of voter harassment and disenfranchisement schemes of the sort that made headlines in 2000 and 2004. The discussion is driven in part by a story that our sister site the Michigan Messenger broke on September 10, when reporter Eartha Jane Melzer wrote that one GOP county chair there was “planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.” (Today Melzer updates that story with news that House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers has asked the Justice Department to investigate those claims.)
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie says election laws here–specifically, the state’s same-day registration policy, along with a few key reforms enacted after conflicts over partisan voter challenges in the state’s 2004 election–make it much more difficult for partisans to game the system by constructing specious grounds for residency challenges or by mounting wholesale objections that serve to slow polling lines and discourage would-be voters. I spoke to Ritchie late last Friday. Of the post-2004 reforms, he says, “First, challengers have to be from Minnesota and to show proof of residency. Continue Reading