Following the ruling by the Minnesota State Supreme Court declaring Bob Barrett ineligible to hold the Minnesota House District 32B seat and nullifying the November ballot in the district, two familiar Republican faces have declared their intention to seeks their party's endorsement for the February 14, 2017 special election.
Sheldon Anderson, former Mayor of Wyoming, MN and aide to one-term wonder congressman Chip Cravaack, and Anne Neu, Minnesota House Republican Campaign Committee (HRCC) executive director, fundraiser and Chair of the new Friends of GOP Women committee, have declared their intent to run.
At the Pioneer Press, David Montgomery summed up problem about Bob and its resolution in Lawmaker doesn’t live in district, MN Supreme Court rules; ballot won’t count:
State Rep. Bob Barrett doesn’t live in the legislative district he’s elected to represent, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
That makes Barrett an ineligible candidate for this November’s election — and pre-emptively nullifies the vote in Barrett’s District 32B. That’s because Barrett was found to be ineligible less than 80 days before the Nov. 8 election. Under a 2015 law, if a legislative candidate is tossed off the ballot this late, the seat will be filled in a February special election.
Sheldon Anderson: Miss Me Yet?
Some Minnesotans may remember Anderson from the 2010 City Pages' Hart Van Denburg report in Sheldon Anderson, Wyoming mayor, defends "Miss me yet?" Bush billboard on MSNBC:
The "Miss me yet?" billboard story we told you about last week has now made it possible for Wyoming, Minn., Mayor Sheldon Anderson, a Republican, to get his 15 minutes of fame thanks to MSNBC -- and some free campaign advertising in his bid to unseat state DFL Rep. Jeremy Kalin. . . .
That 15 minutes didn't work out so well for the mayor. Kalin chose to retire, and Anderson lost the 2010 primary to Republican endorsed candidate Bob Barrett, who actually lived within the confines of the district for which he ran--then called 17B before redistricting in 2012. Anderson then lost the race for mayor in November to Eric Peterson.
Anderson's luck improved a bit after that, according to his campaign website's About Sheldon page:
After Congressman Chip Cravaack’s historic victory in 2010, Sheldon served as district director through 2012 with offices across Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District in Duluth, Brainerd and North Branch.
Since Cravaack lost his job in 2012 to Rick Nolan, Sheldon returned to running his business, Capital Investigations & Security Services, Inc. while starting up a political consulting firm.
He's conservative--and he lives in the district. He registered his committee with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board on September 13.
Anne Neu: HRCC Insider
Like Sheldon Anderson, Neu is conservative and lives in the district; the candidates essentially agree on issues and priorities (Anderson's issues here and Neu's issues here).
Neu's About page plays down her insider status:
I am a resident of North Branch where I have lived for 7 years and I’m a homeschool mom to my five children ages 8 to 17.
I work part-time but also enjoy serving in the community. I am an avid supporter of the Boy Scouts and have served on the North Branch Planning Commission. I’ve also served as Vice President of Minnesota Excellence in Public Service Series, which provides leadership training to conservative women so they can fulfill leadership roles in their careers, communities and government. I have engaged in political advocacy at every level from walking in parades to organizing campaigns.
For those details, one needs to check out her Linked In profile:
Executive Director
MN House Republican Campaign Committee
– Present (2 years 7 months)St. Paul, MN
– Present (5 years 4 months)St. Paul, MN Vice President
Minnesota Excellence in Public Service
– (4 months)St. Paul, MN Interim Finance Director
Mike McFadden for U.S. Senate
– (5 months)St. Paul, MN Campaign Manager
Pete Hegseth for Senate
– (1 year 2 months)8th Congressional District, MN Campaign Manager
Cravaack for Congress
Neu is recently widowed after her husband's long struggle with ALS; her touching duet with him can be viewed here on YouTube.
In Friday's announcement of her candidacy, Neu declares:
Because of Democrat activists employing under-handed tactics, our district now faces the unfortunate situation where we need a new Republican candidate on the ballot for the February 14, 2017 special election. . . .The best response to the devious tactics by local Democrat activists is winning convincingly at the ballot box.
Bluestem thinks that actually living in the district one purports to serve is an even better means to prevent those tactics from being effective. Like Anderson and Neu, presumptive DFL candidate Laurie Warner lives in the district.
Screengrab: From 2011 series of Youtubes of Neu speaking to the Metropolitan Republicans Women, "Anne Neu was the Campaign Manager for Chip Cravaack for Congress. Very powerful woman."
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