It's judgment day for voters in Southern Minnesota. Over at the New Ulm Journal, Josh Moniz writes in Primary election today, Quist v. Parry in 1st District GOP race:
Both candidates face their biggest challenge post-primary by trying to attract the independent voters needed to challenge Walz.
Quist has claimed he is the more intellectual and trustworthy candidate. But, he is under fire for first denying, then admitting to past controversial actions. The actions include a self-imposed undercover investigation of an adult bookstore and claiming men are "genetically predisposed" to run households. He claims Walz will not use his past actions against him.
Parry claims he is the candidate who can reach out to "independents and Reagan Democrats." But, he came under criticism on Aug. 6 for claiming Gov. Mark Dayton "pops 15 to 16 pills in a meeting" while touting his ability to antagonize the DFL. His "pills" claim earned him condemnation from Dayton and Republican leadership.
Another challenge for Parry or Quist will be to make up their lagging campaign fundraising totals. Over the last three FEC reports, they have been significantly behind previous Walz challengers while having a combined total roughly four time less than Walz's fundraising,
Parry claims the fundraising difference is inconsequential if he runs a "shoe-leather campaign." Quist said he would dedicate 50 percent of his time to fundraising after the primary.
The Post Bulletin posted Mike Parry's final negative mailer against Quist here. It's the same attacks used throughout the race, with yellow highlighting. Parry has posted a "TV ad" on youtube, but with 34 hits, it doesn't look as if the campaign is pushing the online version. Parry did buy $9,000 in cable time in Rochester, Mankato, the Twin Cities and Winona, sources say. The buy was for August 10-August 13.
Winona Daily News staff writer Mary Juhl is succinct in Primary today, you decide:
First District GOP candidates Mike Parry and Allen Quist will face off in the primary election after months of attacks. Parry is a state senator from Waseca, Minn., who runs a Godfather’s Pizza in his hometown. Quist is a former state representative and two-time gubernatorial candidate from St. Peter, Minn.
In Minnesota primary: Candidates make final push for votes, the AP's Martiga Lohn reports:
Meanwhile, Republican Mike Parry pushed to finish a tour of southern Minnesota's 1st District, starting the day in Mankato and ending in Rochester. The state senator from Waseca has been on the defensive since he claimed last week that he saw Gov. Mark Dayton pop 15 to 16 pills in a meeting. The remark, which came after Parry made an issue of decades-old comments primary opponent Allen Quist had made about social issues, drew a spirited denial from Dayton and condemnation for Parry.
Parry adviser Ben Golnik said Parry was connecting with voters on issues including the deficit and repealing the federal health care law.
Quist campaign manager Julie Quist, the candidate's wife, said the former state representative from St. Peter was doing several media interviews on Monday. She said he has remained focused on eliminating the deficit as his key campaign issue.
Walz campaign manager Sara Severs said the three-term Democrat will be in Mankato Tuesday when the primary results come in.
In Minn.'s attention span tested in primary campaigns, the AP reports:
In the south, Republican voters were choosing between state Sen. Mike Parry and former state Rep. Allen Quist in a fight that has gotten personal. The winner will run against Democratic Rep. Tim Walz in a district that has usually been seen as competitive. This year, Walz is seen as relatively safe after the Republicans tore into each other over over-the-top comments by each. Most recently, Parry drew condemnation after accusing Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, of popping pills in a meeting.
City Pages finally gets to last week's Buzzfeed item, but makes up for the tardiness by including all the cray-cray's greatest hits in The ParryQuist primary day reader.
Bluestem will have more cray as the day unwinds.
Images: McKayla is not impressed with the CD1 primary (above); Dale Moerke of Luverne was voter #7 at his polling place.
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