While the Brown County Congress is a nonpartisan gathering of elected and appointed officials, the New Ulm Journal reports that two Republican legislators at June 6, 2014's meeting grew not just partisan in their remarks, but took sides in the inter-party struggle that is the August 12 MNGOP gubernatorial primary.
New Ulm Journal staff writer Fritz Busch reports in Torkelson, Dahms mull ‘big government':
SLEEPY EYE-Area Republican legislators Paul Torkelson [Hanska] and Gary Dahms [Redwood Falls] talked at the Brown County Congress Friday about the need for a balanced legislature to avoid one-party legislative control they said made government spending grow three times as fast as the economy. . . .
Torkelson and Dahms stressed the importance of supporting Republican Marty Seifert of Marshall for governor, the only rural IR candidate in Minnesota's first-ever contested primary election for governor this year. Torkelson said he was hopeful about 2014 elections he said included eight Republicans and just one Democrat running unopposed.
"Marty will help deal with rural-metro inequities like school funding, property taxes and healthcare refunds," Dahms said. . . .
It's simply peculiar for legislators and media in the Brown County area to describe this year's contest as "Minnesota's first-ever contested primary election."
The allegedly unique nature of the Seifert bid is the most nonsensical argument we have read to date in favor of the challenge to endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson. In 2006, radio talk show host and anti-smoking ban activist Sue Jeffers challenged sitting incumbent Tim Pawlenty. Anti-immigrant activist Ruthie Hendrycks of nearby Hanska was Jeffers' running mate.
The pair received just over 11 percent of the vote.
A more famous example? Sitting Republican Governor Arne Carlson primary thrashing of endorsed Republican candidate Allen Quist. Quist was endorsed by 69 percent of the delegates on the first ballot at the state convention in 1994.
Other than that, Seifert is total new and different, as brand marketers like to say.
Here's a description of the Brown County Congress from 2009:
Elected and appointed leaders from the county, cities, school districts and the township association in Brown County meeting regularly to focus on strategic "big picture" issues affecting the entire county. Meetings are held quarterly at the Brown County REA Auditorium in Sleepy Eye. Occasionally open forums for the general public are held.
The Sleepy Eye Chamber of Commerce asked people to the June 6 event with the following invitation:
. . .Why meet as a countywide congress? In 2000, a collaborative workshop was held for the residents of Brown County to identify issues that need to be addressed in the county. Communication among the communities in Brown County was identified as major concern. A gathering of the key elected and appointed officials was proposed as a means to strengthen communication, build partnerships among agencies in the Brown County area, and focus on goals and strategic planning. The Brown County Congress has been meeting quarterly since the spring of 2000, with participants finding it to be an excellent opportunity to gather information and identify resources.
This quarter our forum will be Impacts and Issues of the Legislative Session. Representative Torkelson and Senator Dahms will be in attendance to share their views on the past session and and to answer questions. Representatives from the Federal levels have been invited to join us. Come and help make our voices stronger. This is an excellent opportunity to share your concerns with our elected officials.
Instead, Dahms and Torkelson used their remark at the event as an anti-DFL and pro-Seifert pepfest. Lovely.
Torkelson and Dahms speak out about Minnesota's restrictive MMJ law
Both legislators also took the opportunity to spread a little misinformation about Minnesota's new overly restrictive medical cannabis law. Fritz reports:
Torkelson said Minnesota's approved medical marijuana bill was very restrictive but not supported by the American Medical Association (AMA) or law enforcement. "Just before the medical marijuana bill was passed, there was a loud rally for fully legalizing marijuana, which I feel is the goal of many people involved.," he added. "This is the camel's nose under the tent. Young people will experiment with it. I have a lot of discomfort with it. It's still federally illegal and not a simple issue."
Dahms said medical people said there aren't enough medical studies done on it. "Dosages are another question," he added. "There will be four Minnesota dispensaries."
The bill actually allows for two manufacturers and eight dispensaries. Like Dayton, the Republican legislators are pushing the idea that the goal of maedical cannabis advocates--despite the absence of any bill for full legailzation in the 2014 session.
Photo: Senator Gary Dahms and Representative Paul Torkelson at an earlier meeting. Via New Ulm Journal.
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The same reporter who overlooked the prior contested primaries also seems not to have heard that the Republican Party of Minnesota hasn't been the Independent Republican (IR) party for close to 20 years.
Posted by: Max Hailperin | Jun 08, 2014 at 07:30 PM