Back on January 24, the MNGOP issued the following press release:
Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton issued the following statement regarding tonight's endorsement of Paul Jacobson by House District 5B Republicans for the special election to be held on February 15.
"Paul Jacobson is the right choice for House District 5B. Paul understands what it takes to grow jobs in Northern Minnesota during these tough economic times. He will be a strong advocate for increased mining operations on the Iron Range and will stand up for taxpayers against the big spenders in St. Paul. In addition, it is important that the people of the Range have at least one representative as part of the majority in the state House. As he campaigns hard over the next three weeks, I'm confident Paul's optimistic, pro-jobs agenda will resonate with the voters of House District 5B," stated Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton.
Readers will remember how Sutton grew jobs with Baja Sol (only a few tortilla grills remain and one Baja Joe's in St. Cloud); he's met with the same success in Hibbing.
Yesterday, voters rejected the failed Taco King--or is that Burrito Baron?-- and his politics of "No" by electing 25-year-old Carly Melin with 60% of their vote.
While GOP-endorsed candidate Paul Jacobson stayed classy, the same cannot be said of Sutton, the Republican Party, and their fellow travelers. And not only did Sutton go negative with mailers (" Vote 'No' on Carly Melin" was the slogan), he likely spent big on an unattainable seat.
Just as now-vanished Baja Sol restaurants went into properties where other businesses failed ("take advantage of real estate opportunities by targeting restaurant spaces that have closed in recent months," as one article put it), the Sutton political empire seems to have forgotten the lesson of location, location, location.
And unlike the rent at some of the collapsed franchise spots, mail sent to the Range costs the same as postage to the reddest district in the land.
But the GOP couldn't stop itself just from saying "No" about Melin. Nope, swipes had to be made on her age and gender. Just today, a Republican activist tweeted that voters in 5B elected a "girl."
Poor choice of language at best--and hypocritical, given that suburban voters picked Tara Mack, a 25-year-old Republican woman in 2008. Neither woman--nor any man of the same age who seeks office--deserves to be addressed with demeaning language. Men and women who are younger than 25 are mature enough to be sent to fight wars or police our streets. Standing up for their values in the legislature is no different; those sniping at Melin's age need to grow up.
And congratulations to Representative Melin.
Images: Representative Carly Melin (above); Screenshot of a tone-deaf tweet (below)
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