A kind lady from Buzzflash just sent us a link to this online game:
Play "Seat the Senator!" Guess the day Al Franken will be sworn in as Minnesota's junior senator and win a prize from BuzzFlash
Switch the sponsor from Buzzflash to the state gaming commission and Minnesota could dig itself out of the hole.This would easily replace Dick Day's proposed racino as" something people want to do." The details:
The How-to:
If you aren't already signed up with a username on the BuzzFlash Blog, click here
to sign up. All you need is an e-mail address, and we promise we won't
use it to do anything but contact you in the event that you win the
contest.
Go to the bottom of this story and leave a comment
between now and 11:59 p.m. Central on Feb. 28, 2009 indicating the date
upon which you think Al Franken will be sworn in as Minnesota's new
U.S. senator.
The prize:
The Coen Brothers Movie Collection, which includes five DVDs of the Minnesotan sibling duo's critically-acclaimed films: Fargo, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing and Blood Simple.
The specs:
If
more than one person picks the same winning day, each winner will be
entered into a lottery and one prizewinner will be randomly selected.
If no one picks the winning day, the person who picks the closest day to the one upon which Franken is sworn in wins.
If
Franken is sworn in before Feb. 28, the contest will be closed
immediately and the person who picks the closest day to the one upon
which Franken is sworn in wins.
Otherwise, the contest will end
when Franken is seated. A winner will be announced within 24 hours of
his swearing-in and contacted via their e-mail address as registered
with the BuzzFlash Blog.
No purchase or donation is necessary to play.
A small amount, like with pulltabs or Powerball would be wagered, striking the rule iabove in the Buzzflash competition.
BuzzFlash employees and their family members are not eligible to win.
BuzzFlash wishes the best of luck to all, but especially to Al!
We already own those Coen Brothers' DVDs, along an accent to go with them, and so are happy to donate any winnings for our modest proposal to the State of Minnesota.
Image: Forget the foo-foo dust of Pegasus in this artist's rendition of the proposed racino, regardless of Senator Day's off-Beat poetry. The Franken betting pool will bring in more immediate dollars.
With FEC year-end reports due on Saturday, the committee for state senator Dick Day has filed a termination report. This action matches what we've been hearing: that Senator Day, a.k.a the Termindaytor, is more interested in running for state senate again in 2010 and having a hand in redistricting than in meeting the fate handed Brian Davis in November 2008 by the disciplined Walz grassroots campaign.
Day's committee took in $11,670.00 from October 1 until the end of 2008, but refunded $2300. Day's committee ended up owing the candidate under $1500, having paid back most of the $23,000 the Owatonna legislator lent to it.
The brief summary page: 5. Covering Period 10/01/2008 Through 12/31/2008
Column A This Period
Column B Election Cycle-To-Date
6. Net Contributions (other than loans)
(a) Total Contributions (other than loans)
11670.00
232773.46
(b) Total Contribution Refunds
2300.00
0.00
(c) Net Contributions (6(a) - 6(b))
9370.00
232773.46
7. Net Operating Expenditures
(a) Total Operating Expenditures
3285.39
240605.25
(b) Total Offsets to Operating Expenditures
0.00
0.00
(c) Net Operating Expenditures
3285.39
240605.25
8. Cash on Hand at Close of Reporting Period
0.00
9. Debts and Obligations Owed TO the Committee
0.00
Itemize all on SCHEDULE C or SCHEDULE D
10. Debts and Obligations Owed BY the Committee
1493.27
Itemize all on SCHEDULE C or SCHEDULE D
Davis' committee has filed its year-end report as well, and it's quite curious. While Davis had his committee pay its $124,000 debt to him in November after the 2008 election, we see that it again has obiligations to the candidate.
Between November 25 and the close of 2008, the Davis committee took in $1775, with a total of $3380 gathered in the new cycle; it has spent $4724.47, while reporting $2922.13 cash on hand at the end of the year. However, it owed $7379.00, mostly to Davis himself.
Congressman Walz's committee reports zero debt and $30528.16 cash on hand at the close of 2008. The committee did very little fundraising in the final five weeks of the year, taking in $7295.00 ($10857.02 for the new cycle).
One of our fondest childhood memories is of ice skating with our cousins at the outdoor public rink in Madelia. One icy day, we decided that the streets were slick enough to skate back to Avis and Mac's place. We carried our boots back as we raced through the small town streets.
While millions of persons around the globe listened intently to
President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech last Tuesday, Houston County
officials had a keen interest in economic stimulus packages being
proposed. One stimulus package in particular could be of major
importance to all Houston County taxpayers.
That package is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Economic Development
Administration, called Fast Start Projects. Fast Start Projects is a
national economic stimulus program the Obama administration is
proposing, designed to put people back to work.
Houston County Financial Director Casey Bradley informed the county
board in mid-December he learned of the proposed program that could
fund up to 100 percent of the construction costs of the new county
highway complex.
Bradley and County Engineer Brian Pogodzinski put together the
preliminary application and had it ready for submission Dec. 16 to the
Arrowhead Regional Development Commission in Duluth.
The U.S. EDA has asked the Duluth-based commission to submit a list of
projects eligible for federal funding under the EDA’s Investment
Programs that could be started by July 1, 2009.
“If the President gets the stimulus programs going, I feel we are
sitting very good as far as getting approved for Fast Start Projects,”
Bradley told the county board Jan. 20. “The county has met all the
criteria for the program and should be able to meet the deadlines.”
eQualityGiving put together the Same Sex Marriage Quiz. Go read the answers from representatives from across the country, including Walz. Who knew a clueless press release from Ron Carey could summon such pride?
Winona leaders are pressing U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., to support
upgrading a rail line along the Mississippi River to run high-speed
trains from St. Paul through Winona en route to Chicago.
But a
spokeswoman said Monday that Walz isn’t rushing to take a position on
the high-speed rail plan, which recently gained endorsements from St.
Paul-area leaders, including Rep. Betty McCollum, DFL-Minn. Leaders in
Rochester are urging consideration of a different line that would
include their city, possibly running along Highway 52 to Minneapolis or
St. Paul. . . .
. . .Spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery said Walz likely won’t endorse a
high-speed route until the Minnesota Department of Transportation
completes a statewide rail plan. MnDOT officials are drafting that plan
now, and will accept public comment on it at a public hearing on Feb.
13 in Rochester. . .
First District Congressman Tim Walz is expected to come to Rochester on Thursday to discuss the stimulus package.
The Waseca County News reports that State Senator Dick Day, State Rep. Kory Kath, a millipede, a possum and a falcon were classroom guests in Kindergartners get a visit from the Minnesota Zoo. Write your own joke.
It's a slow news day on the prairie. We did notice that state representative Randy Demmer, who lost the Republican endorsement to Brian Davis--whom Congressman defeated decisively in November--filed his year-end report on January 13.
Demmer closed the year with $99.25 in the bank and a $135,150 campaign committee debt owed to himself. The committee did not engage in any activity from October 1, 2008 until the close of the year. Demmer was successful re-elected to the Minnesota House in November.
Neither Davis, Day nor Walz has filed his year-end report, due January 31. With the deadline approaching, we'll be checking the FEC site.
Millions of Minnesotans voted on November 4, 2008.
The survivors of the U.S. Senate race called the recount %#$%& drawn out. They lived only to face a new
nightmare, the war against the Machines in a state senate committee hearing room....
Update: Tild has a different take on the Termindaytor. [end update]
Senator Day's recent defense of the ability of machines to read a voter's marks on a ballot, versus the citizen's right to have his or her vote counted in an election, was caught in an alarming video posted at the Uptake, embeded below.
With a group of friends, we speculated over the weekend about the source of Day's spirited partisanship on behalf of voting machines. Soon, we concluded that Day himself might indeed be a machine. After all, we'd seen this sort of machination in theaters and on television.
The group's next line of inquiry was identifying which sort of machine. Since the Cyclons* Cylons are frequently smoking hot babes, we quickly ruled out that android culture. Nor could Day be a Decepticon, regardless of his dreams of bringing NASCAR to the state, since his eyes aren't red.
No, in siding with the voting machines, Senator Day revealed himself as a terminator, and not one of the nice ones played by that handsome Governor Schwarzenegger, either. Our artistically inclined friend Tild created the photoshopped image which exposes the allegiances wired beneath Senator Day's skin.
The Uptake clip that started it all:
*A kind police officer gave us a verbal warning about the correct spelling of this word. We are grateful for his humane professionalism, since fines in Minnesota's Spelling Court have risened dramatically in the age of no new taxes.
So, the city has applied for $900,000 through the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, Johnson said — a long, complex process that involved
tallying damages to homes in Owatonna dating all the way back to 1965.
But, FEMA is now asking for other materials — photos of the projects
site and other documentation.
Congressman Tim Walz scored a
$400,000 earmark for the city in October 2008, which could count toward
the $1.3 million project. However, though Owatonna no longer must
compete with other cities for the money, it is essentially a grant
through FEMA and there are a number of hoops the city must jump through
before any of the much needed funds arrive.
All in all, if the
council wants to use federal dollars they will have to wait 10 to 24
months. Another catch-22 is that if they want help from above, they
cannot start the project until FEMA approves the grant, which would
further delay the storm pond. The council hoped to complete the pond in
fall 2008, but it has been stymied by negotiations with landowners and
the question of funding.
Fast action on a proposal to study and build a high-speed rail line
from Chicago to St. Paul via Winona has been endorsed by another St.
Paul-area elected official.
DFL Rep. Betty McCollum joins St.
Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Ramsey County commissioners pushing for a
high-speed line along Amtrak’s Empire Builder route, which stops in
Winona on a route up the Mississippi River to St. Paul. The
announcement comes as Rochester, Minn., leaders campaign to ensure
they’re included in high-speed rail talks mounting as federal lawmakers
mull transportation projects in 2009.
The newly formed Southeast Minnesota Rail Alliance, backed
by Rochester-area elected officials and the Mayo Clinic, is encouraging
federal lawmakers to study a high-speed route that runs through their
city. But McCollum said Friday that the Federal Railroad Administration
has identified the Mississippi River route from La Crescent to St. Paul
as the final leg of a potential high-speed corridor from Chicago. . . .
. . .Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Minn., who represents both Rochester and Winona,
hasn’t taken a position on what route the potential line should take. A
spokeswoman said Friday that Walz supports acting quickly on the
proposal if federal dollars become available, but added that “we also
need to think carefully about what our state’s transportation needs
will be 25 or 50 years in the future.“
The Cottonwood County Citizen and Worthington Globe report that Windom students to witness inauguration. They'll be meeting with Congressman Walz and Senator Klobuchar in their repsective offices. The students had followed te election closely in their government class, and the exchange student reports that her friends back home are deeply jealous (as are we).
The article . . . gives a good indication of why southern Minnesota
should be a hopeful example for the nation, showing how quality people
can become involved in the political process not for the sake of the
political "game", for an ideology or for the desire to hold office, but
because they truly feel they can can make a positive difference.
Two of our favorite bloggers are posting again. Minnesota Central believes the GOP Not Serious About Earmarks; Dems Not Serious About Reform.The Blueman is back to blogging at his own place, and the Barkley supporter scolds Republicans for trying to pain Al Franken as Public Enemy #1. Hal's on to something: we think that Franken will be more policy wonk than comedian should he serve in the U.S. Senate--as looks increasingly likely.
The DFL notices another civic-minded teacher joining the ranks of elected leaders, excerpting the Mankato Free Press profile of the young educator from Owatonna. Kath's two-year-old daughter Norah is captured in photo #7 in this MN House slideshow. The slideshow's toddler cuteness is completely nonpartisan, however since we can't resist nine-month-old Everett Sanders' little dimples (#1) or the adorable two-year-old Westrom twins (#5).
After all that material, BSP readers deserve a song. How about a ditty from The Dead 60s, in Senator Day's honor (remembering the ramp lights and everything after):
Much of Minnesota's prairies are under blizzard and winter storm warnings, which--like the Senate recount and cuts to Minnesota's state budget--are dominating the news.
Seventeen-year old Jeremy Duruji is usually not one to toot his own horn, especially when it comes to community service work.
Duruji,
a junior at Owatonna High School, has been volunteering since age 13
while living in Ketchikan, Alaska. During that time, he’s helped
organize community book fairs, raise awareness about colon cancer and
run scoreboards during athletic events.
And when his family moved to Owatonna in 2006, Duruji continued serving
the community by assisting the Awanas at Grace Baptist Church. He also
helps with youth wrestling and is a member of the Owatonna High School
student council.
For his services, along with his athletic
aspirations, Duruji was awarded the Congressional Award Bronze Medal by
Congressman Tim Walz Friday at Owatonna High School.
“I’m very excited and honored to be the recipient of this award,” Duruji said.
The
award comes from the Congressional Award Program, to promote people
between the ages of 14 and 23 to “promote initiative, achievement and
excellence,” according to the Web site of the Congressional Gold Medal.
In
order to earn the award, one must set goals in four program areas:
voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness and
expedition.
Walz said it was an honor for him to present the
award and encouraged Duruji’s peers to consider community service as a
way to serve their country.
“It’s hard to fit them in, but they’re critically important,” he said. . . .
Duruji hopes to attend the U.S. Naval Academy after high school graduation, the OPP reports. Elsewhere in the paper, readers learn in Legislators talk policy over coffee
:
Although Gov. Tim Pawlenty highlighted millions in budget cuts Friday,
legislators are anticipating the budget to be ready after the February
forecast.
And after consulting with numerous state economists,
state Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna, said the forecast is not sounding good
because it may wind up increasing the state budget deficit by another
$2 billion.
“All of us are pretty nervous how we’re going to handle this,” Day said.
Day,
along with state Rep.-elect Kory Kath, DFL-Owatonna, met with business
leaders Friday at Fireside Coffee Beans in Owatonna to hear their
concerns about the economy and what to expect out of the upcoming
legislative session.
Kath said the upcoming session will be like
someone going back into a burning building and trying to retrieve
anything they can. He doesn’t believe a 10 percent cut across the board
is the way to go in solving the budget crisis. . . .
It's scheduled to start in 2010, but construction of Olmsted
County's 55th Street extension can start sooner or later than that,
depending on a variety of factors.
Money is the biggest issue. The county has about $8.5 million less
than the $23 million estimated price to complete the project. That
figure includes price estimates for acquiring right-of-way, a
considerable portion of which remains to be bought. . . .
. . .Federal funding has been solicited for the project, but the prospects do not appear promising.
U.S. Rep. Tim Walz included $4 million for the project in the
federal appropriations bill, but few of these types of appropriations
are likely to pass Congress, said Walz spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery.
The Mankato Free Press takes a look at local reaction to Tim Pawlenty's observations at a GOP governors' meeting:
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, speaking to fellow
Republican governors in Florida last week, said the Republican Party is
in deep trouble, losing its ability to compete in large swaths of
America and ceding key blocs of voters to the Democrats. . .
. . .Area Republicans, however, aren’t as gloomy as some of the GOP’s national leaders...
“I’m almost expecting the Obama
administration to make a botch of things,” Bade said. “They’re too
ideologically socialist, and a lot of their ideas are impractical. They
just don’t add up.”
It's telling for the fortunes of First District Republicans when Senator Dick Day is the voice of reason:
State Sen. Dick Day ran
for Congress this year but saw his party opt for a more socially
conservative Republican, who lost badly to Democratic Congressman Tim
Walz. Day said the GOP needs to stand first for responsible governing —
particularly in spending.
The budget deficits run up by the
Republican-controlled federal government “drove me crazy,” Day said.
And he thought his party’s focus on abortion, gay marriage bans and
other social issues — at a time when Americans were losing their jobs
and homes — didn’t sit well with voters.
“Hey, I don’t blame people,” he said of those who chose to punish the GOP in federal elections. . . .
. . .Day thinks there may be a
backlash when the cost of Obama’s spending proposals begin to add up.
At the same time, he doesn’t rule out the possibility that Democrats —
with universal health care, tax cuts and programs aimed at helping the
middle class, more regulation on corporate America — are offering what
voters genuinely want.
“Maybe people want more government,” Day said. “I could be on the wrong side. I’m smart enough to realize it.”
Day lost September's Republican primary by a slightly less embarrassing margin than that enjoyed by the far more socially conservative candidate in the general election.
The Washington Post reports GOP Strategists Whisper Fears Of Greater Losses in November. We're hearing some whispers about Brian Davis's chances--and cut backs on media buys--in Minnesota's First, and it doesn't look pretty for the GOP challenger.
Some tidbits from the WaPo's article:
The pessimism in the GOP ranks reflects a striking shift in momentum in the four weeks since the Republican National Convention, when Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made her national debut and rallied conservatives, helping to fuel the
perception that longer-shot Democratic targets [in the Senate] were drifting out of
reach .. . .
. . .The picture in the House is similar. The generic ballot test -- a
traditional measure of broad voter attitudes -- has also moved
decisively in Democrats' direction in recent days. The latest NBS-Wall Street Journal and Associated Press
polls showed voters favoring a generic Democratic candidate for
Congress over a generic Republican by 13 points, while a recent Time magazine poll gave Democrats a 46 percent to 36 percent edge.
GOP operatives said the party's declining fortunes are rooted in a
series of events over the past two weeks, including McCain's decision
to suspend his campaign in order to help broker a deal on the rescue
plan and Republican opposition that doomed the bill in a House vote on
Monday. Those incidents helped reinforce voter impressions that
Washington is broken and that Republicans bear the brunt of the blame,
the party insiders said. . . .
. . .Compounding Republican problems is a continued fundraising deficit that
has left the party largely powerless to defend its congressional
candidates against a televised Democratic onslaught. At the start of
September -- the last time financial figures were available -- the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
held a $40 million cash-on-hand edge over its GOP counterpart and was
advertising in 41 House districts, compared with just two districts in
which the National Republican Campaign Committee was on the air.
An interesting column about Sarah Palin's fading star in the Fillmore County Journal.John Torgrimson writes:
Well, after the
party comes the hangover. . . .
. . .Don't take it from me, take it from conservative columnists and pundits
who support McCain's candidacy, but find Palin's nomination an
embarrassment to the Republican party and the McCain campaign for
president. . . .
Read the rest in the FCJ.
Speaking of embarrassments, we don't think that the NRCC will be wasting any money in MN-01. It's our understanding that Brian Davis's television ads will begin airing next week on Rochester and Mankato stations, but the start-up was pushed back a day. More details about his media buys as we confirm information. Davis has not aired an ad on cable or television since the September 9 primary.
It's sad that First District Republicans nominated such an
irresponsible candidate. State Senator Dick Day was not only a leader
in our state and a good citizen, he actually had a chance at beating
Walz. Brian Davis has single handedly taken out the Republican hopes in
the First District.
While Davis is taking nearly a month to get on air after the primary, Walz has four positive ads running as well as an army of volunteers working on the ground. A Walz phone bank volunteer in Rochester told us that she frequently receives compliments for the positive, "he works for us" message in the congressman's ads. And Walz has done this while facing significant votes in Washington.
Walz said he had been hopeful the Senate would make improvements to the bill that was defeated in the House.
"I'm disappointed that instead the Senate sent this bill back to the
House with $100 billion in unpaid for additional spending that will be
added directly to the national debt," he said.
Edward Felker reports about the content of Barack Obama's calls to Democratic congressmen in the Times, the Post Bulletin's sister paper in Illinois:
Obama returned to the campaign trail after the vote, but continued to
work the phones Thursday. In a call to House Democratic freshmen, he
asked them to vote for the bailout bill while also promising to pursue
more broad financial restructuring if elected president, according to
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., one of the Democratic freshmen leaders and an
opponent of the plan.
We hope Obama will follow through on that if elected; we're betting Congressman Walz will remind him of the pledge. Walz wasn't swayed by promises of future revisions.
Brian Davis defeated Dick Day Tuesday evening with Day capturing 33% of
the vote. 1/3 of CD 1 Republicans rejected Brian Davis and his campaign
of exaggerations and attacks on Congressman Walz.
Some say that 35% of DFL voters not voting for Franken is a problem. Surely then, 33% of GOP voters rejecting Brian Davis is equally problematic, probably more so for Davis since...well...dude has no money (other than his revolving loan) and no one knows who he is.
Davis is a failure...
*Update* Thanks Aaron...
Adding
to the Lipstick on a Pig edition of BMRD, Brian Davis lost as many
counties in CD 1 as Al Franken did statewide. Davis lost Steele, Dodge,
LeSueur and Waseca Counties to Dick Day.
Wherever did Hal get the idea that was an embarrassment? Hmm. There's evidence of that disunity in today's Winona Daily News. Day campaign staffer Chris Giesen calls out Steve Drazkowski on his double standards about the Republican endorsement in Two sides of an endorsement?:
. I thought Rep. Steve
Drazkowski’s recent letter was very interesting; Drazkowski asked all
of the Republicans to support the endorsed candidate for Congress.
Two
years ago, Drazkowski himself told the very same Republicans that their
endorsement of somebody else wasn’t any good, and he ran against that
endorsed candidate in a primary. I guess Drazkowski only likes
endorsements when he agrees with them.
The Rochester Democrat looks at Tim Walz's request the national security concerns be honored in lifting the drilling ban in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. A portion of the Eastern Gulf is offlimits in part because of military concerns.
In the First congressional district, GOP-endorsed Brian Davis turned
back a challenge from State Sen. Dick Day by a 2-to-1 margin. Davis now
goes to the political slaughterhouse against first-term Rep. Tim Walz,
who had no opponent and is leading the money and airwave races by
considerable margins.
. . .But Day said he was proud of the campaign he ran and proud to give voters a chance to vote in the election.
“It’s hard when you’re running and the turnout is so small,” Day said.
“The Republican Party also didn’t treat me too well, which I’ll
remember for years to come.” . . .
. . .Walz campaign manager Chris Schmitter said Tuesday they’re ready for the challenge and plan to run a positive campaign.
“The
people of southern Minnesota already realize that millionaire Dr. Brian
Davis is not for us,” Schmitter said in a statement.
Davis
wouldn’t characterize his ads and his campaign style as negative
attacks against Walz and encouraged the news media to scrutinize votes
that have been taken in Congress. . . .
More primary coverage has been published while we slept. The Mankato Free Press says in Davis tops Day in GOP primary:
Making his first run for public office, Davis used
superior fundraising, a larger campaign organization and the advantages
that come with being the Republican Party’s endorsed candidate to win
by a two-to-one margin. . . .
. . .Davis is hoping to come up with one more victory over a sitting lawmaker on Nov. 4.
“We are certainly working hard toward that
goal,” he said Tuesday night, crediting his primary victory to a
hard-earned bond with the Republican Party base. . . .
Senator Day sees the effort to cement that bond as a problem in the general:
Day said he has concerns
that Davis’ attempt to win over the GOP base will make it harder for
him to compete with Walz when Democrats, independents and moderate
Republicans show up on Nov. 4.
“I tried to just hold on to being an
ordinary guy in the middle and Brian just went to the right and the
right and the right,” Day said. “I don’t know how he’s going to get out
of being way over there and then come back (to the middle).”
Nor will Day be helping him. But don't cry for Day--he's heading to Alabama for some hot NASCAR action:
“No, no, no, no,” Day
said. “I don’t have so much trouble with him as I do with the party.
They said some pretty nasty things. ...”
Instead, Day said he will be doing what he likes at least as much as politics — heading to Alabama for a stock car race.
“I’m probably going to go to Talladega and see a car race and enjoy my fall,” he said.
KTTC captures all the excitement at Davis headquarters.
With about three-quarters of the precincts reporting at 11 p.m., Brian
Davis was leading Dick Day by about 30 percentage points, 15,188 votes
to 7,879.
Davis, a political newcomer, buried Day in Winona
County, collecting 1,328 votes, or 76 percent, to Day’s 409 votes, or
24 percent, with all Winona County votes counted.
Davis staked
out staunchly conservative positions in his first run for office to
earn the Republican endorsement in March against Rep. Randy Demmer of
Hayfield.
Day, a self-described political maverick, shunned what
he called a noninclusive nomination process and skipped the GOP
endorsing convention, taking his case directly to voters in Tuesday’s
primary.
Three endorsed Republican candidates for Congress each faced a primary.
Brian Davis was declared the winner in southern Minnesota’s 1st
Congressional District GOP contest, where he held a 62 percent to 38
percent advantage over Dick Day with more than half of precincts
reporting.
In the 1st Congressional District,
which takes in Rochester and other southern Minnesota areas, oncologist
Brian Davis led state Sen. Dick Day by 62 percent to 38 percent in the
primary to decide the challenger to freshman Democratic Rep. Tim Walz
, who scored an upset in 2006 over Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht. Davis
ran with the endorsement of the district’s Republican Party
organization. CQ rates the general election race as Leans Democratic.
In the US House race, no particularly competitive primary races. In the CD-1 primary , physician Brian Davis defeated State Senator
Dick Day by a 2-to-1 margin. Freshman Congressman Tim Walz (D) is favored over Davis in November.
Political analysts offer a variety of reasons that
Walz would be hard to beat, beyond his record and name recognition:
he's widely regarded as a centrist, the National Rifle Association
endorses him and he's open to drilling for oil in Alaska. [ Ollie's note: Walz doesn't support drilling in ANWR, but wants more drilling in other areas of the state; Walz supports expanding offshore drilling]
Walz's campaign spokesperson Chris Schmitter said he congratulates Davis on his win, but added this:
"Dr. Davis has shown in just the last two weeks he's run a negative TV
ad that several newspapers have called misleading. And he's trying to
adhere to his party's platform and use that Washington negative party
playbook and it's just not going to resonate with the people in
southern Minnesota."
Photo: NASCAR action like this wreck at Talladega probably helped Dick Day get through his primary defeat last night. While we're more of a fan of combine demolition derbies, we do have a couple of friends working on campaigns who will be jealous of the senator's trip to the track. They know who they are.
Walz
Campaign Manager Chris Schmitter released the following statement regarding
Tuesday night’s primary election results, “What’s clear about millionaire Dr.
Brian Davis, is that he’s a Republican Party insider using the same-old Washington playbook, putting partisan politics and
special interests over the needs of middle-class
Minnesotans.”
[Davis] will now face freshman Rep. Tim Walz (D), who began the cycle as a
top GOP target. Davis has seen an uptick in his fundraising since
notching the party endorsement, but Walz had $1.3 million cash on hand
in mid-August, compared to Davis’s $310,000.
Most of Senator Day's home county, Steele, has reported in. He led Davis by 75.85%--24.15%.The results below are for the entire First. Update: WCCO is reporting that with 35 percent of the precincts in, Davis leads 68%-32%.
I just voted about 30 minutes ago and in Luverne's
SE precinct where I live the unofficial report is about 5% turnout. The election
official also said that some of the other precincts might be at 7%. Not too much
excitement here in Luverne.
We'll see how much excitement there is in the rest of the district and state. As loyal readers will recall, we have thought that Brian Davis will win the primary; however, friends and acquaintances with stronger political resumes than ours have thought other wise.
Whatever the result, now the real fun begins.
UPDATE: So far, four precincts (.53%) in the First have reported results to the SOS office (no idea where the early reporting precincts are precincts are in the western part of the district):
A friend in Fairmont writes to say he just voted. Officials at his polling place said that turnout is strong because of a school bond issue on the ballot.
Brian Davis did well among Republican delegates in Martin County and local activist "Quist Republican" Neal Breitbarth has been vocal in his support for Davis. However, Dick Day does have some support; witness total contributions of $400 from his colleague, popular state senator Julie Rosen.
We received a report early in the day from Rochester. Our correspondent said that voting was healthy in Rochester Ward 2 because of a large pool of "people running for that seat for City Council."
Will Rochester prove to be a strong base of support for Brian Davis--or will the split in the local Republican party that began with activists' endorsement of the challenger to sitting state senator Sheila Kiscaden in 2002 play a factor in the race?
We have heard all sorts of rumors, but the polls tonight will be the best indicator about the unity of Rochester Republicans.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008 FAIRFAX, VA-The National Rifle Association Political
Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is endorsing Congressman Tim Walz for re-election to the
U.S. House of Representatives in the first congressional district of Minnesota.
“During his first term in the House, Congressman Walz
consistently supported the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners and
sportsmen, and demonstrated a strong commitment to the Second Amendment and our
country’s rich hunting heritage,” said Chris W. Cox, Chairman of NRA-PVF.
“Because of his unwavering pro-gun support, Tim Walz earned an ‘A’ rating and an
endorsement from NRA-PVF.”
Congressman Tim Walz said, “I grew up hunting and
spent 24 years in the Army National Guard. I know how important Second Amendment
rights are to the people of southern Minnesota. I’m proud to stand with the NRA
to protect our Second Amendment rights, and I’m truly grateful for their
endorsement.”
Rep. Walz cosponsored the BATFE Reform bill that
seeks to modernize and improve BATFE operations by rolling back unnecessary
restrictions, correct errors and codify longstanding congressional policies in
the firearms arena. He also cosponsored the D.C. Gun Ban Repeal and signed onto
the historic Congressional amicus brief in the case of District of Columbia v.
Heller, holding that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep
and bear arms.
Cox continued, “Tim Walz believes in southern
Minnesota values, and will continue to be a true and consistent friend in the
U.S. House of Representatives. I encourage all gun-owners and NRA members to
re-elect Tim Walz to the U.S. Congress.”
Chris W. Cox serves as Executive Director and
Chairman of NRA-PVF. The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund is
responsible for political candidate rankings. These are based on candidate
voting records, public statements and responses to NRA-PVF questionnaires.
