Minnesota House: DFL gains three seats, but no supermajority

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The GOP managed to regain control of four House seats captured by Democrats in 2006 only to lose another six. The net loss of two Republican members brings the total party split in the House to 87 DFL and 47 Republicans. House DFLers didn’t get a supermajority of seats, but Tuesday’s election results still provided reason to smile. The party lost four seats, but gained six others and has an 87-47 split heading into the 2009 session, tied for the biggest majority advantage in three decades. The split was 85-48-1 when members adjourned last May. Continue Reading

Legislative race: Bachmann-like Judy Lindsay squares off against Sterner in MN House race

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One of the most stark contrasts in any state legislative race this year lies in the House District 37B face-off between ultra-conservative Republican Judy Lindsay and moderate DFLer Phil Sterner. The southeastern metro district trends moderate and has overwhelmingly supported retiring moderate Republican Dennis Ozment. But two years ago Amy Klobuchar carried the district, and districts to the north and west have elected DFLers to the House and Senate. So in a big picture sense, the district appears to be on the expanding edge of recent DFL advances (or Republican losses). Even Ozment thinks that Lindsay might be too extreme for the district. 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