No irony: Tony Cornish urges voters to select Tom Hackbarth in Tuesday's MN31B primary

On Monday, Minnesota House Public Safety committee chair Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, via urged voters in House District 31B to vote for incumbent Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, in light of the latter's staunch Second Amendment record and endorsement by gun rights groups:

Republican State Representative Tom Hackbarth northeastern Anoka County, needs the help of every "Pro Second Amendment" voter in his district. He is endorsed by the NRA with an A+ rating! He also has the support of the Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance with an A+ rating. Tom's opponent received a "B" rating from the NRA! Call your friends and have them vote this coming Tuesday for Representative Tom Hackbarth. Tom has a 100% Pro Second Amendment, Pro-Gun, voting record!

Bryan Strawser, the chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus & Political Action Committee, commented that the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus rated Hackbarth A+.

A comment on Cornish's Facebook page defending Bahr's lower scoring by the NRA--which has since been hidden or deleted from the wall--asserted that Bahr opposed the NRA position on individuals living in public housing being able to possess firearms, since those who can't pay their own way shouldn't be trusted with guns. Bluestem finds this notion about restricting a constitutional right concerning. Would Bahr also restrict rights to free speech, assembly, voting or religion based on receipt of public assistance?

How important are gun rights as an issue in this area? According to the Minnesota Association of Defensive Firearm Instructors' website, as of July 31, 2016, 18,177 of Minnesota's 240,096 valid permit holders live in Anoka County, although the county includes other legislative districts.

It's totally not ironic that Cal Bahr, Hackbarth's opponent, is considered the more conservative candidate of the two Republicans, and has received the financial support of the Freedom Club State PAC and socially conservative GOP power couple Bob and Joan Cummins. Bahr also received a post-filing $4000 infusion of cash from the Senate District 31 RPM (July 22 24-hour-notice) from the Senate District 31 Republican Party, which closed the pre-primary reporting period with $2,993.12 cash on hand. It will be curious to see where the extra money came from that allowed the senate district district to cut that check, but we'll have to wait, because political party committees don't have to file 24-hour-reports on large contributions near a primary.

Cornish isn't the only member of the Minnesota House Republican majority caucus supporting Hackbarth, as we reported in A run for the money: Daudt headlined lobbyists' fundraiser for locally censured Tom Hackbarth.

In June, we reported in SD31 GOP to Rep. Tom Hackbarth: drop dead!:

Via the Morning Take, news that Local Republicans Censure Representative Tom Hackbarth. The "treacherous and dishonorable offense? Backing out of an agreement to honor the party's endorsement for his seat.

Hackbarth lost the endorsement to Cal Bahr, who had sought the endorsement in 2014 and 2012, but didn't primary the incumbent after the sitting representative secured the endorsement.

Last week, MinnPost's Briana Bierschbach reported in The 9 most intriguing legislative primaries in Minnesota:

After more than two decades in St. Paul, GOP Rep. Tom Hackbarth lost his party’s endorsement back in April to East Bethel businessman Cal Bahr. Initially, Hackbarth wasn’t sure whether he wanted to run for his House district again, which includes Anoka, but he ultimately jumped into the primary contest. That miffed some local Republicans, who said Hackbarth initially promised to abide by the endorsement. Local Republicans activist are also likely primary voters, making this a race to watch. Hackbarth will tout his record in St. Paul and hope his name recognition carries him through to a victory.

We haven't seen any reports of polling in the district, so we'll be watching to see whether the local party endorsement beats support from the House Speaker, county commissioner and gun rights god Cornish.

Hackbarth's own permit to carry made news at the beginning of the decade. The Pioneer Press reported in The state lawmaker, his loaded gun, a Planned Parenthood clinic and… an Internet girlfriend? back in 2010:

Tuesday afternoon, state Rep. Tom Hackbarth went to the St. Paul Police Department and picked up his gun.

How his silver .38-caliber revolver came into the possession of the cops is a story that Hackbarth himself acknowledges sounds “really weird and odd.”

Last week, St. Paul police pulled the Anoka County Republican over and seized his loaded Smith & Wesson after he told them he was “jealous” about his “girlfriend,” whom he didn’t have any contact information for but suspected was with another man, according to police reports.

Police had been called to the Highland Park neighborhood by a security guard at a Planned Parenthood clinic, where Hackbarth had parked and appeared “suspicious.”

Hackbarth, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, was briefly handcuffed but was released without being charged, and he told the Pioneer Press he did nothing wrong or illegal. . . .

It's become the stuff of off-the-record legend around the capitol--and we can say no more.

Screengrab: Tony Cornish urges voters in House District 31B to vote for incumbent Tom Hackbarth over endorsed challenger Cal Bahr (top); the invite to the fundraiser at Running Aces (bottom)

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