Update 8/31: On Tuesday, August 30 the referee ruled in Westrom's favor, we reported in Referee's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: Torrey Westrom stays on MN12 ballot.[end update]
Bluestem Prairie is one of the few media outlets to report on "We The People" candidate Ashley Klingbeil bid for Senate District 12 seat. Our first post was the June 16 entry, MN12: Ashley Klingbeil to challenge Torrey and Dorry from the right for state senate seat.
We kept track of her, noticing on August 2 that Via personal Facebook page: independent candidate vows to challenge Westrom residency:
Is it a copycat play or a legitimate challenge?
Just as soon as the residency challenge to Minnesota Senate District 23 endorsed Republican candidate Gene Dornink is under the consideration of the Minnesota State Supreme Court, another Senate conservative candidate has raised the issue of her Republican opponent's residency.
In the Minnesota Legislature since 1997, Torrey Westrom needed to move after redistricting.
In Senate District 12, "We the People" candidate Ashley Klingbeil posted the embedded video on her personal Facebook page late Tuesday afternoon'. . .
Click through on the post link to watch her video and read about her plan kick Westrom off the general election ballot.
Early Monday evening, MinnPost's Walker Orenstein tweeted that the filing with the Minnesota State Supreme is real:
New: A petition has been filed with the state Supreme Court challenging Sen. Torrey Westrom's residency. After redistricting, the Republican said he moved from Elbow Lake to Alexandria. https://t.co/DCMvC7vO6R
— Walker Orenstein (@walkerorenstein) August 8, 2022
A number of the items in the filing are mentioned in Via personal Facebook page: independent candidate vows to challenge Westrom residency. It's not surprising because Klingbeil is a real estate broker and would thus understand the records to search about a property, even more than a poor country blogger.
Here's the petition, uploaded on Orenstein's DocumentCloud.
Orenstein has tweeted Westrom's response:
GOP Sen. Torrey Westrom's response: "These allegations are baseless and are a desperate attempt to distract from the real issues of the campaign." Says he changed his residency to Alexandria "before the deadline in full compliance with Minnesota Law." https://t.co/GKKsn9DRCo pic.twitter.com/NsAnMZTfhw
— Walker Orenstein (@walkerorenstein) August 9, 2022
We're happy DFL candidate Kari Dorry appears to be staying out of this hot mess, tweeting about what any serious challenger would be doing on a lovely August day in west central Minnesota:
Knocking doors across the countryside today. Dang…rural MN is beautiful!! #ruralMN #knockknock pic.twitter.com/UGAkvVnCtm
— Kari for MN Senate (@karidorry) August 8, 2022
We're betting all three candidates will be on the ballot in November, but stranger things have happened in Minnesota politics.
Whatever the case, we find the question of Westrom's residence fascinating, given an earlier plan to alter the boundaries of Senate District 9, where Westrom's Elbow Lake properties lie, so that another lake home Westrom owns would be in District 12, as we reported in Will 2020 redistricting plan boundary adjustment get snuck in to let Westrom live in lake house?
Photo: Torrey Westrom's new real estate purchase. We The People candidate Ashley Klingbeil believes she has evidence to prove Westrom does not, indeed, live there.
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