Update July 29: Minnesota Public Radio's Brian Bakst reports via Twitter that Judy Olson's petition has been filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court. He also notes that with Lisa Hanson on the primary ballot as a Republican, the election would not need to be postponed, as was the case with Bob Barrett's non-residency
If Dornink was to be declared ineligible, there is another GOP candidate on the ballot (Lisa Hanson) so the election wouldn't be postponed as has happened in at least one other similar case.
— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) July 29, 2022
[end update]
[Update #2, July 29, 2022]
Always the ultimate professional, Bakst tweets Dornink's response:
Sen @GeneDornink response to residency challenge #mnleg https://t.co/IhAyeXgRHX pic.twitter.com/3yxUTAroiw
— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) July 29, 2022
[end update #2]
There may be a big shake-up in the Republican primary for Minnesota state senate district 23.
Back in February, we posted Dornink to move to Glenville to run in District 23; "Patriot Princess" Lisa Hanson declares bid.
At the end of March, Sarah Stultz reported in the Albert Lea Tribune article, Dornink wins party endorsement for Senate District 23 seat over Hanson:
. . .Of the 217 delegate ballots cast in the endorsing convention, 149 — or 68.7% — were for Dornink and 68 — or 31.3% — were for Hanson. A candidate needed 131 votes — or more that 60% of ballots — to receive the party’s official backing. Delegates were from Freeborn, Faribault, Mower, Steele and Waseca counties.
“It’s humbling to receive the endorsement,” Dornink said in a speech after convention officials announced the results, pointing out how hardworking Hanson was. . . .
Independent journalist Rebecca Brannon tweeted:
Tonight’s State Senate Endorsing convention in Albert Lea between restaurant owner Lisa Hanson & Senator Gene Dornink is packed.
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) March 27, 2022
Over 160 registered - there are well over 200 gathered. Present is Jake Duesenberg w/ a heavy a Action 4 Liberty presence backing Hansen. #MNGOP pic.twitter.com/OUFYJ6YuJW
As May came to a close, Hanson filed for the seat, we posted in Hanson follows through on challenging Dornink; her campaign manager faces his own challenge.
Now one of Hanson's supporters has filed a complaint about Dornink's eligibility for the seat, claiming that he doesn't actually live in the district. At Rocks and Cows, Jay Duggan reports in Dornink Giving Away Mower/Freeborn Senate Seat to DFL?:
First term Senator, Gene Dornink, has been endorsed to be the Republican senate candidate for the newly redrawn Senate District 23 surrounding Austin and Albert Lea. Gene won the district area in 2020 to be the first Republican in a generation to do so. Only problem is when the district lines were redrawn this year, to comply with the US Census and Minnesota redistricting, Gene’s residence of 20 years in Hayfield for his family of 5 was not included within the boundaries.
Gene’s declared for the redrawn district, first telling the news he was moving to Glenville within the new boundaries, but never moved into the unfinished house and instead filed his official election candidacy at the address of a recently purchased 2 bedroom estate home in Brownsdale. Election law in Minnesota declares a state legislator must be a resident of a district 6 months prior to election day, which would require permanent residence in the district about May 8th for the 2022 election.
Gene Dornink’s compliance with the election residency law has come under scrutiny because he managed to piss off fellow Republicans in the party endorsing process. Hayward businesswoman and conservative activist Lisa Hanson filed as a Republican to unseat Gene Dornink. Lisa faulted Gene for refusing any effort as a Senator to defend Lisa and other business owners that suffered penalties and/or prosecution for defying Governor Walz’s COVID business shutdowns. To eliminate Lisa as a choice for the Republican senate endorsement and hand the endorsement to Gene the local party declared Lisa Hanson a “criminal” for defying Walz shutdown orders and disqualified her for endorsement [see Tribune coverage above] Feeling cheated out of a fair hearing in the party Lisa filed for the primary, and to counter her candidacy Gene and the local party officials continued to smear her as a “criminal” to party voters. A Lisa Hanson supporter, Judy Olson, that had heard Gene was not occupying his property in Brownsdale and possibly violating election residency statute decided she had enough of the hypocrisy of in June. Judy started documenting daily visits and inquiries to the Dornink Brownsdale house. Judy attests her documented visits and inquires showed no signs of occupancy daily for several weeks in a row, interviews with Brownsdale neighbors stating that the place was never occupied, evidence there was no tv, phone, internet, or garbage service to the house, and county records showing Gene had not filed to homestead the house. Judy also attached evidence that many visits and visible signs pointed to Gene still permanently occupying and residing in his Hayfield home outside the new district.
Judy Olson filed an election complaint with Minnesota Secretary of State Office using the Minnesota State Election Law Complaint Form, attached her documented evidence and accuses Gene Dornink of violating the 6 month election residency requirement to stand for office. Rocks & Cows has attached her complaint and attached claims and evidence below.
Dornink SOS Residency Violation Complaint Form uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
The post continues:
The Secretary of State told Judy Olson she must file her complaint directly with The Minnesota Supreme Court. In addition to forwarding the complaint to the court she send a copy of the complaint to Rocks & Cows to see if we had an opinion if it was of public interest. Of course the filed complaint is of public interest. If Gene Dornink is disqualified by the court after winning a primary the DFL candidate runs unopposed for MN Senate District 23 and wins, possibly giving the crazy shutdown, mask mandate, school CRT, no bail and no jail DFL a Senate majority. It is also possible courts could order a special election. Rocks & Cows made inquiries to friends and associates in and around Brownsdale. We did not receive any new and unique information, but the reports back mirrored Judy’s observations and inquiries. Reports and opinions that the Dorninks didn’t live in Brownsdale. The most interesting information returned as a result of our inquiry was a fact that should concern all Senate 23 Republican voters. Several folks said Judy and Rocks & Cows were not the only people that had made these series of inquiries, and that several others that had made those inquiries were known to be DFL voters. . ..
Oh my. Duggan ends by raising the disqualification in 2016 of Bob Barrett.
UPDATE: Note the correction above.
However, Duggan misses an important part of that story. MPR's Brian Bakst reported in MN Supreme Court: GOP House lawmaker disqualified from 4th-term bid:
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled a Republican state House incumbent ineligible for November's election amid questions about his residency.
Justices ordered a February special election for that seat after accepting the findings of a court-appointed referee that Rep. Bob Barrett doesn't live in the Chisago County district northeast of St. Paul that he now represents.
Barrett owns a home in a nearby district but rented a property in the one he ran in. . . .
Rather than remove Barrett from the ballot, the court said no winner should be declared in November. Justices turned to a new state law that triggers a special election the following February.
Did the DFL win the special election? Nope: Anne Neu, now Anne Neu Brindley, retained the seat for the Republican Caucus and now serves not only the citizens of her district, but also as a persistent Deputy Minority Leader, as those who watch floor sessions know.
We're not sure why the Minnesota Supreme Court would break from that decision, nor why Rocks and Cows are convinced that Hanson will lose the primary. [end correction]
The DFL candidate running in the race is Brandon Lawhead. Writing for the Austin Daily Herald, Stultz reported in Lawhead, Stiehm endorsed at local DFL convention back in April:
Lawhead, who grew up in Austin and has had Lawhead Law Offices for about 25 years, said he felt a call to service after the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He has also worked with a lot of people, including union workers, small business owners and others over the years, and felt he could contribute as a “centrist” candidate.
“The polar extremes are doing all the talking, and there’s nobody in the middle that’s representing all those in the middle,” Lawhead said.
Talking about former U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, who he said was always fighting for the underdog, Lawhead said he would try to be a candidate who could see the bigger picture and work across the aisle.
“That’s something of the basis of the campaign I want to run,” Lawhead said. “I don’t want to get into the mudslinging or the negativity on each side.
“Just because they’re Republican doesn’t mean they’re a bad person,” he said.
He also talked about the need to recognize why some in the party may be voting elsewhere and to figure out what can be done to bring them back.
He and his wife, Jennifer, the director of community education for Austin Public Schools, have three children, ranging in age from high school to college age.
“One thing we can do is give everyone an education,” he said.
While the area was represented in the Minnesota Senate by Austin Democrat Dan Sparks from 2003 through 2020, it's a tough race, Indeed, Sparks was declared the winner in 2002 over incumbent Grace Schwab by the narrowest of margins after an automatic recount.
In 2020, Dornink defeated Sparks 19,759 to 17,941, with Legal Marijuana Now candidate Tyler Becvar capturing 2,699 votes.
Was Becvar part of a GOP scheme to capture the seat? After the 2020 election, J. Patrick Coolican reported in the Minnesota Reformer article, DFL campaigns blunted by marijuana candidates, burning chance of legalization:
A marijuana candidate seems to have affected at least one state senate race, with Gene Dornink edging out Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, by just over 1,500 votes. Legal Marijuana Now candidate Tyler Becvar won over 2,500 votes. Becvar posted a video for his putative opponent Dornink on his Facebook page in May, according to a screenshot obtained by the Reformer. His Facebook page was also filled with support for President Donald Trump and attacks on Democrats.
Given that history of trickery, we're having a difficult time feeling much sympathy for Dornink.
Map: The new senate district, from Action 4 Liberty's Heroic Lisa Hanson Runs for Minnesota Senate.
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I attended the Senate District 23 endorsing convention as a delegate and there is misreporting by Rocks and Cows on this issue. Their following statement is not accurate: "To eliminate Lisa as a choice for the Republican senate endorsement and hand the endorsement to Gene the local party declared Lisa Hanson a “criminal” for defying Walz shutdown orders and disqualified her for endorsement"
In truth, the Senate District nominations committee found Lisa to be "qualified with reservations", not "disqualified", and the reason given for the disclaimer was her history of "fleeing law enforcement", not for defying Walz. At no point in the endorsing convention was she declared a criminal by the party. She was treated fairly and had every opportunity to win, she just didn't.
Posted by: Angie Hoffman | Aug 08, 2022 at 02:18 PM