At the Minnesota Progressive Project, Eric Pusey has posted in Sen. Carla Nelson lying about the budget shifts that are damaging our schools:
Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) is also pushing the same lies that Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) is. . . .
Republicans are trying to undermine the school districts that have levies on the 2011 ballot. One-third of the state's school districts have levies asking for voters to increase their property taxes to pay for basic expenses which the MN GOP refuses to fund.
Nelson wrote an op-ed on September 9, 2011. In it she referenced specific numbers for her school district. Several superintendents for local school districts wrote an op-ed in today's Rochester Post Bulletin pointing out her lie of omission:
... we are now seeing some legislators come forward with a misinterpretation of a spreadsheet from the Minnesota Dept. of Education (MDE) that is misleading our public. In some cases, the purpose has been to oppose districts' efforts to renew or increase an Operating Levy referendum this fall. (To be clear, Sen. Nelson did not express such opposition in her article and has stated that she does not believe it is her place to publicly raise such opposition.) . . .
Check out the whole post at MPP.
Nelson's caution in diving off the same cliff from which Garofalo and The Draz leapt may reflect that simply fact that she serves in a swing district in an area where redistricting might make an enormous difference in how voters receive her schtick.
Already, DFLers see her as vulnerable, with one challenger having registered with the campaign finance board and seeking his party's endorsement for the seat.
Politics in Minnesota's Maggi McDermott reports in Rochester DFLer announces run for Nelson’s Senate seat:
Attorney Ken Moen of Rochester will challenge first-term GOP Sen. Carla Nelson for the District 30 seat in 2012. Moen, a DFLer who filed his candidacy last Thursday with the Campaign Finance Board, has not held office before, but his days as an activist and campaign worker began during the first Paul Wellstone for U.S. Senate campaign in 1990. Moen has also volunteered for Tim Walz, Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken, and Gov. Mark Dayton’s campaigns, as well as state legislative races.
He is currently the only DFLer who has filed to take on Nelson, a Republican who successfully ousted DFLer Tina Liebling from the District 30A House seat in 2002, but later lost to Liebling in 2004. ...
Update: A helpful commenter notes that in 2002, HD30A was an open seat and Nelson won with under 40 percent of the vote in a three way race. Wikipedia notes that Liebling's political career began in 2002, when she lost her first bid for state office; her official House page notes that she was first elected in 2004. Nelson's legislative history is found here. As Rochester Dem followed up, Nelson lost to Liebling again in 2006. [end update]
...Moen said he has not discussed his candidacy with former Sen. Ann Lynch, who lost to Nelson in 2010, but added that he feels fairly certain based on conversations with Senate DFL caucus officials in St. Paul that she will not enter the race. Lynch sent out a fundraising appeal in April, but little has been heard from her since. In either case, Moen said, his candidacy will go on. ”If she runs, she runs,” he said.
Read the whole article at PIM.
Photo: Senator Carla Nelson.
I believe that in 2002 30A was an open seat, and yes Nelson beat Liebling, but Liebling was not "ousted". It was also a three-way race, with Nelson getting less than 40% in her win.
PIM's mistake, not yours, but might be working correcting.
Posted by: Archer Dem | Sep 19, 2011 at 07:16 PM
Archer Dem is right - and Nelson lost to Liebling again in 2006.
Posted by: Rochester Dem | Sep 19, 2011 at 07:40 PM