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DFL Candidates Vie To Replace Vulnerable MN GOP Congressman

February 4, 2012 by Michael McIntee CD8, Minnesota No Comments

8th CD DFL candidates Tarryl Clark, Jeff Anderson and Rick Nolan

Click photo to watch 8th CD DFL candidates Tarryl Clark, Jeff Anderson and Rick Nolan

Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District race is already rated a toss up by the Cook Report, even though Democrats have not picked which candidate is going to face first-term Republican Chip Cravaack.

That process of endorsing a candidate begins this Tuesday at Minnesota’s precinct caucuses. So with less than a few days to make their decision, it’s no wonder that 75 people recently fought their way through a snowstorm in Northeastern Minnesota to hear three of the Democratic Farmer Labor Party (DFL) candidates who would like to replace Representative Cravaack.

Former Congressman Rick Nolan, Duluth City Council member Jeff Anderson, and former state Senator Tarryl Clark answered questions.
… Continue Reading

Somali Women To Flex Political Muscle At MN Caucuses

Somali political training

Click photo to watch Somali political training

Party precinct caucuses can be puzzling to long-time political activists. It is democracy in action but some of the rules and procedures can be confusing.

Imagine what the process is like to people living here with a different cultural background, U.S. Somalis for example. Not many Somalis have participated in the caucus.

Somali activist Fartun Weli says, “The process is confusing and Democrats have not reached out to us.” Fartun and the leadership of DFL Senate District 44 decided to change that situation.

DFL produces political action training videos for Somali community … Continue Reading

DFL Candidates Vie To Replace Sen. Larry Pogemiller (CC)

November 30, 2011 by Michael McIntee Live Coverage, MN Comments Off


Video transcription for captioning by Lisa Richardson, Paradigm Reporting & Captioning

Northeast Minneapolis has been represented by the same state senator for nearly 30 years. That will change next year because Senator Larry Pogemiller has been appointed to be Minnesota’s Education Director. The seat is considered a “safe” one for the DFL, meaning the winner of the December 6th DFL primary is likely to win the special election in January. The five candidates running in the DFL primary answer questions and address the public. The event happened at the Sheridan Magnet School in Minneapolis.

Citizens Commission Discusses Redistricting

October 12, 2011 by Bill Sorem MN Comments Off

Click Photo to Watch Video of Citizens Redistricting Hearing

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Citizens Redistricting Commission gathered to hold final discussions on a proposed Minnesota redistricting map before the panel of 15 commissioners officially submits that map to the state’s judiciary on October 21. The Commission also ran the political numbers for the first time.

Draw the Line is a citizens’ group, with no more influence than the other groups or individuals that testify at the court hearings. Nevertheless, Minnesota Citizens Redistricting Commission claims it offers a neutral approach to sorting out the redistricting process. Draw the Line’s partners are Common Cause Minnesota, the League of Women Voters Minnesota, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and TakeAction Minnesota. Learn more about the Minnesota Citizens Redistricting Commission here.

An earlier version of this story reported that the commission already released the redistricting map, which is incorrect. We regret the error.

Minnesota Court Holds Third Redistricting Hearing in Minneapolis

October 6, 2011 by Matt Johnson Minnesota, MN Comments Off

Click on Photo to View Redistricting Hearing

On October 6, the Minnesota courts held the third of eight public hearings on the federal and state redistricting process. The panel sought public input to identify “communities of interest” throughout the state of Minnesota. This information will help prevent those communities from being divided during the redistricting process and thus minimizing their voice at the voting booth. Citizens can speak for up to five minutes at one of the eight public hearings.

By law, Congressional Districts and Legislative Districts must be redrawn after each census so each district has the same number of people in it. Minnesota’s courts are presiding over this process because the Republican controlled legislature and a DFL Governor could not agree on where to draw the new districts. As part of the process, the court is holding hearings in each of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts. This hearing took place at the Minneapolis Public Schools John B. Davis Educational Service Center in Minneapolis.

For technical reasons, the hearing has been split into three clips. … Continue Reading

After Loss to Bachmann, Tarryl Clark Runs Again for Congress

June 20, 2011 by Jacob Wheeler MN, Netroots Comments Off

Tarryl Clark lost to Michele Bachmann last year in the race for Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. But she’s not throwing in the towel. Redistricting will allow Clark to challenge Republican Chip Cravaack next year in the state’s 8th Congressional District — the Iron Range. Cravaack unseated Democrat Jim Oberstar in 2010 after he served for over three decades in the House of Representatives.

The UpTake spoke to Tarryl Clark at Netroots Nation about her upcoming race against Cravaack, and her “day job” with the Blue Green Alliance.

Dan Powers To Challenge John Kline For Congress, Calls Kline “Worst”

May 30, 2011 by Michael McIntee CD2, Minnesota Comments Off

Dan Powers Candidate For Congress

Congressional Candidate Dan Powers at the 2010 DFL State Convention

Minnesota Republican Congressman John Kline already has a Democratic challenger for 2012. It’s the same challenger he almost faced in 2010. Dan Powers who waged a year-long plus campaign in 2009-2010 against Kline announced this morning he is running again. Powers lost out in the primary to late-comer DFL candidate Shelley Madore. Madore lost the party endorsement to Powers and said she wouldn’t run against him in the primary. But a few days later changed her mind.

In 2010, neither Powers nor Madore was able to raise much money to face Kline. Democrats have not been able to make the race even a close election since the area was redistricted and Kline was elected. The area is about to be redistricted again, but Governor Mark Dayton and the Republican controlled legislature have not agreed on the lines.

Powers referenced those past losses when he made his announcement to DFLers this morning by email. “I am not running to make a statement. I am running to make a difference. I am running to win,” Powers wrote.

Powers also issued an open letter to Congressman Kline questioning who Kline is representing — an ideology or the people of Minnesota.

“The fight you are waging in Washington is on behalf of an ideology that really doesn’t have anything to do with the day to day challenges people of Minnesota are facing,” wrote Powers. “You represent the worst in politicians. I think these actions show at every level how you do not represent the people of this district. For these reasons and many others I will work hard every day to make sure that this is your last term in office.”

Dan Power’s letter to Congressman John Kline … Continue Reading

The Case For Ranked Choice Voting

May 11, 2011 by Jacob Wheeler Live Coverage, MN Comments Off

Fair Vote Minnesota holds a political reform salon at the home of Barbara Forster and Larry Hendrickson in Minneapolis. David Durenberger, George Latimer and Tom Horner will speak about fixing Minnesota’s broken electoral system.

Thissen Accuses MN GOP of Throwing Local Government Under De-funded Bus

March 28, 2011 by Jacob Wheeler Economy/Jobs, MN Comments Off

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DFL House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (Richfield) spoke to the media this morning in advance of today’s House floor session. He read the following statement in opposition to GOP proposed budget cuts to Local Government Aid and transportation funds, and took questions afterward.

“Today on the floor you’re going to hear a lot of talk about tough decisions from the other side of the aisle. I’m here to remind you that there is a vast difference between tough talk and actually making difficult decisions. Throwing local governments under the bus you just de-funded is not a tough choice, it’s passing the buck.

We’ve been making the same mistake for 8 years – refusing to make hard decisions at the state-level about our budget, raising property taxes, cutting thousands of jobs that support middle class families and slashing important services. And today, after trying to justify their actions by pointing to a ‘crisis’ that their own budgeting created, the Republicans are going to make the same mistake yet again.

Minnesota is just beginning to see the light at the end of the economic recovery tunnel. Today’s proposals by the Republican majority threaten to pull the plug on that light by continuing the squeeze on middle class families.”

St. Cloud Mayor Kleis Emphasizes Importance of LGA

March 25, 2011 by Jacob Wheeler Economy/Jobs, MN Comments Off

This morning, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton appeared on St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis’ weekly radio show on AM1240 WJON. Yesterday, following Dayton’s speech at the Legislative Conference for Minnesota Cities, Counties, School Boards, Townships, The UpTake spoke to Kleis about the importance of Local Government Aid that St. Cloud receives from the state. Kleis, a former legislator himself, also emphasized the importance of those in the State Capitol bringing governmental experience with them, as opposed to flooding St. Paul with private-sector values.

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Click on Photo to View Kindred Kitchen Video

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