On November 12, Bluestem reported Tim Miller gracious in minority leader bid defeat; vows to work toward reopening private prison.
A series of tweets Saturday by Minnesota Public Radio political reporter Brian Bakst shows Miller's sentiment didn't age well.
In message to others in @mnhousegop, @kdaudt says he learned of decision by the four (Bahr, Drazkowski, Miller and Munson) yesterday. pic.twitter.com/cT6CT5D24e
— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) December 8, 2018
The letter notifying @mnhousegop of the departure. #mnleg pic.twitter.com/6PxX9KS5C9
— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) December 8, 2018
In the MPR Capitol View story that followed, Bakst reported in Renegade House members split from GOP caucus,
In a message to his Republican colleagues Miller wrote, “I have come to the conclusion that the attitudes and actions by the HRC (House Republican Caucus) leader and some of his supporters have become too hostile toward me and has made it impossible to properly serve my District first and the State of Minnesota second. Those are my priorities.”
“As we move into session my hope is that all of us Republicans will work together to defend the people in our districts from radical liberalism,” Miller’s message continued. “I for one will certainly not be working against any of you.
Say what you will about Miller, he's no Matt Dean. Then on staff at MinnPost, Briana Bierschbach reported in Reasonable Daudt that Dean, who ran for the MNGOP gubernatorial endorsement, had also sought the role of Speaker when the caucus captured the House in the 2014 elections.
Dean stated put with the caucus.
Hard Feelings: The Hackbarth Dilemma
Bierschbach also reported about Daubt's doubters to the right:
The calls for unity within the caucus haven’t kept some members of the state’s Tea Party groups from raising red flags about Daudt. Jake Duesenberg, executive director of the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance, said Daudt campaigned against more conservative candidates in several local endorsement contests this spring and summer, and his deal with Democrats to bond for $1 billion during the last biennium is seen as a prime example that he lacks the fiscal conservative values they want in a majority leader.
Bahr first registered as a candidate for the seat under his current committee in 2013, but failed to secure the party endorsement in 2014.As we reported in 2013's Hackbarth challenge: Paranoid Transportation owner registers campaign committee in 31B, Bahr had terminated an earlier committee for the 2012 contests. (For more on the climate early in the year, check on MPR's coverage of the Tea Party--establishment Republican kerfuffle here).
But Bahr didn't quit with the 2014 defeat.
Now morphed in Action4Liberty, Duesenberg's group was at the frontlines in capturing the Republican endorsement for running buddy Cal Bahr, over incumbent lawmaker Tom Hackbarth, Alpha News reported in MN Republican Activists Angry With GOP Lawmakers. (Learn more of the group's complaints about House Republican Caucus leadership here).
We had looked at one of the sources of anger in A run for the money: Daudt headlined lobbyists' fundraiser for locally censured Tom Hackbarth, which featured this image:
That might create hard feelings, which continue to linger in 2018, when Hackbarth again unsuccessfully primaried Bahr.
Hard Feelings: The Munson Special Election Primary
Jeremy Munson, R-Lake Crystal, another running buddy escaping from the caucus, received little support from the Republican House Caucus in the primary between the Blue Earth County Republican activist--he was Minnesota First Congressional District chair at the time of his endorsement--and Watonwan County commissioner Scott Sanders.
Former state representative Tony Cornish, who retired after multiple charges of sexual harassment at the legislature, supported Sanders in the primary and the official caucus twitter account was silent about the race, we reported at the time.
Mankato Times via Alpha News reported after the endorsing convention:
Rep. Paul Torkelson supported Scott Sanders and it unclear if Speaker Kurt Daudt and the House Republican Campaign Committee support Munson or if they are recruiting a primary challenger.
Now former Alpha News columnist John Gilmore reported in Jeremy Munson, The Republican House Mafia & The Primary Race In 23B:
Jeremy Munson won the Republican endorsement for House District 23B by 79% on the first ballot. The seat is an open one due to the resignation of Rep. Tony Cornish, who was caught up in the sexual harassment panic that swept the nation.
The man Munson soundly defeated, Scott Sanders, filed for the primary on the last possible day. Speaker Kurt Daudt and the House Republican mafia are behind his campaign, again proving that if Republican rank and file put forth a candidate they don’t like, there’s no bottom to the depths they’ll go to thwart their choice.
The mafia did the same thing when Cal Bahr won the endorsement against creepy incumbent Tom Hackbarth, the guy who stalked his girlfriend while carrying a concealed weapon. Hackbarth had agreed to abide by the endorsement but was easily convinced to renege on his promise by Daudt, who knows something about personal dishonesty.
Both Munson and Bahr were supported by conservative, small-government grassroots organizations. In other words, candidates not approved of by what some members call the “House management” will be actively opposed regardless of the electoral consequences. . . .
Strikingly, the House mafia’s decision to go all in on a spoiler candidate is taken in the teeth of widespread endorsements by well known Republican candidates, including Jeff Johnson, Keith Downey, Matt Dean, Jim Hagedorn, Eric Lucero, Tim Miller, Steve Drazkowski and others. . . .
You won’t read this sort of coverage anywhere else even though most local political reporters have heard versions of what is set forth. No one will go on the record and there’s no paper trail in such a short time to suggest interference by the House mafia with the voters in 23B. This makes it hard to cover in the traditional journalistic sense. Perhaps after this column it won’t be so hard and Republicans across Minnesota, not just in 23B, will learn what “their” leadership in the House is actually up to.
That stuff seems fairly prescient now that Bahr, Drazkowski, Miller and Munson have departed from the caucus. However, the consequences to the Republicans serving in the Minnesota House makes expelling themselves from the caucus a twisted way to own one's own butt hurt about endorsement and primary battles. Bakst reports:
House Speaker Kurt Daudt, who will be the Republican minority leader when the new session gets underway in January, sent an email to Republicans Friday night saying the four members did not give him a heads up about their plans and that their actions will have consequences for how the House is organized.
“As a result of these members’ actions, we will likely be forced to lay off additional staff and the incoming House DFL majority will reduce our committee slots,” he wrote. “We had planned to notify you of your assignments Monday, but that will now be delayed.”
We'll be curious to see the Running Buddies Caucus committee assignments, as well as those of the reduced Republican caucus members.
For now, while those who expelled themselves may be own their hard feelings, we're curious to see how any of this "owns the libs."
Photo: Tim Miller, who lost a bid for Minnesota House Minority Leader to Kurt Daudt before expelling himself from the Republican caucus.
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
Comments