One day before the DFL endorsing convention for the special election in Minnesota House District 19A, Women Winning has Robin Courrier, while the New Ulm Journal reports that Karl Johnson appears to be hedging on earlier signals that he would abide by the convention's endorsement decision.
In a separate article in the Journal, IP candidate Tim Gieseke talks about his big ideas.
Via the Morning Take, Women Winning has endorsed school teacher and union leader Robin Courrier. The group's mission is to "encourage, promote and support pro-choice women's leadership in all political parties and levels of public office." Its website suggests the ways in which it can assist endorsed candidates:
We endorse and provide funds at the maximum campaign finance limit; hold fundraisers among our membership of over 5,000 people; and train candidates and their staff on ways to raise the money necessary to win.
Should Courrier gain the endorsement tomorrow, she may need to spend some of that money in a primary that would be more than prefunctory. Josh Moniz reports in DFL to endorse 19A candidate on Saturday:
All the DFL candidates previously said they would abide by the endorsement, and party leadership indicated they expected unity in the process.
However, Karl Johnson declined to comment Thursday when asked if he would abide by the endorsement. He acknowledge purchasing ads for his candidacy that started Thursday and will air through the weekend in the Mankato area. He also has ads planned for the middle of next week in a wider area, including KNUJ in New Ulm.
With the ad buy in place, it certainly sounds like Karl Johnson isn't planning on taking "No" for an answer. Bluestem is a bit puzzled by the 68-year-old farmer's logic, however:
He said he has strong name recognition in the district, making him able to peel away voters from Quist's demographics, as well as being able to run without needing to spend money on introducing himself to voters.
Has that name recognition been confirmed by polling? Moreover, the ad buy suggests that Johnson is indeed spending money on name recognition.
Both Quist and Johnson are 68-year-old farmers, but that demographic doesn't describe much of the electorate in House District 19A. The dynamics of a special election and the concentration of 70 percent of the district's voters (and much of the DFL base) in the three urban centers of Mankato, North Mankato and St. Peter suggests that there's more to Karl Johnson's plan from pundits and small-town party power brokers than Nate Silver.
A separate article in the New Ulm Journal, Gieseke talks about solving issues, saving money, reports on Gieseke's notions about government staffing and online education. There's a level of--how shall we put it--idea over data in some of the claims. The IP candidate talks about how there are many more state employees now than five years ago, yet data at the Minnesota Management and Budget suggest that public employment, excluding MNSCU, has stayed relatively flat since FY2008.
Employment has risen at MNSCU, but not kept pace with enrollment. Gieseke suggests that students will be siphoned away from traditional college by free massive open-enrollment online courses.
The DFL primary will take place on January 29, with the special election itself on February 12. The endorsed Republican candidate is Allen Quist. The winner will fill the seat left open by the resignation of Terry Morrow.
Read the rest at the Journal.
Update: Here's the press release from Women Winning:
womenwinning announces its endorsement of Robin Courrier for Minnesota House in District 19A and Joanne Dorsher for Minnesota House in District 14A. Having served as a key player in recruiting both Courrier and Dorsher, womenwinning is pleased to roll out its endorsements ahead of this weekend’s local party endorsing conventions. If elected in the February 12th special elections, Courrier and Dorsher would increase the number of women in the State Legislature raising the total number to 67 (or 33 percent).
“This past November, we saw women change the balance of power in our state,” said Lauren Beecham, Executive Director of womenwinning. “Robin and Joanne are not just the best women candidates in their races, they are the best candidates for their districts, period. We know that when women run, women win — and we are working hard to help elect these two excellent women to the State House.”
Robin Courrier has been a teacher in her community for over 28 years. She is currently the Lead Teacher of the Bridges Community School for the Mankato Area Public Schools. She also serves as President of the Mankato Teachers’ Association and is on the Education Minnesota Governing Board. She is running to represent the St. Peter and North Mankato community following the retirement of Representative Terry Morrow.
Joanne Dorsher has over 20 years of active community service including as a member and past Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer of the St. Cloud Area School Board. During her tenure on the school board, she navigated $20 million of budget cuts and served as liaison to the local Chamber of Commerce. Dorsher has also served on the board of GREAT Theater, the Local Area Education Foundation, and Reach Up HeadStart. She also serves on the district’s legislative committee. Dorsher is running to represent the St. Cloud community following the retirement of Representative Steve Gottwalt.
Starting in 2011, womenwinning expanded its political program, recruiting and endorsing more women candidates than ever before. womenwinning’s endorsement comes with significant power. Last cycle, womenwinning raised over one million dollars in both direct candidate fundraising and support for its political and educational programs.
Last November, over 70 percent of womenwinning-endorsed candidates won election from School Board to United States Senate, including 13 of its 16 targeted state legislative races (an 80 percent win rate). womenwinning has a strong record of special election victories as well. womenwinning endorsed in five of the six legislative special elections called in 2011 and all five endorsed women won — Representative Carly Melin, Senator Mary Jo McGuire, Senator Chris Eaton, Senator Kari Dziedzic, and Representative Susan Allen.
Map: Minnesota House District 19A
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