Three Democrats Ask for Endorsement To Run Against Congressman Kline

Redistricting has made recruiting Democrats to run against Congressman John Kline (R- MN) much easier. Three candidates were courting DFL delegates at a candidates forum on Sunday. Those delegates will be voting on an endorsement this coming Saturday April 28th.

Former State Representative Mike Obermueller and Northfield City Councilor Patrick Ganey announced several weeks ago they intended to seek the endorsement. Dakota County Commissioner Kathleen Gaylord recently announced she would be getting into the race.

Redistricting has Congressman Kline on the offensive as well. His new congressional district no longer has Carver County, a Republican stronghold and it now includes the more urban northern part of Dakota County which leans DFL. That may be why Kline has raised more than a million dollars for his campaign, which is a large sum of money to have already in April.

The UpTake spoke with all three candidates before their first candidates forum and asked why they are running, what are the main issues and how they plan to defeat Congressman Kline when so many other Democrats have failed to to so.

Video interviews with all three DFL candidates running in Minnesota’s second Congressional district. … Continue Reading

Democrats Lining Up To Run Against Kline In Redistricted MN CD2

After redistricting, Minnesota’s second congressional district indexes more Democratic than Republican. That’s bringing Democrats out of the woodwork to challenge Republican Congressman John Kline who has held the seat since redistricting made the district more favorable to Republicans in 2002.

Northfield City Councilor Patrick Ganey (DFL) has announced he is running for Congess against Minnesota Representative John Kline. He was making the rounds of DFL endorsing conventions this weekend letting delegates know that he’s in the running. Earlier this year he decided against running for the Minnesota legislature.

Former Minnesota state Representative Mike Obermueller (DFL) says he is very close to deciding to running for Congress and will make a decision soon. Obermueller served one term in the Minnesota House before losing to Republican Doug Wardlow in 2010.

After redistricting, Minnesota’s second congressional district indexes more than 50 percent Democratic.

Video interviews with Obermueller and Ganey. … Continue Reading

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

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

Witness For MN GOP Has History Of Making Inaccurate Claims

Minnesota’s Republican Party didn’t have to go far to find witnesses for its pre-recount petition that the Minnesota Supreme Court is considering. Many, and possibly all of the 11 election judges who submitted sworn statements saying that proper counting procedures may not have been followed on election night are known Republicans. That’s not surprising since generally there is a Republican election judge and a DFL election judge at each polling place.

But what is surprising is that one of the sworn statements comes from a consultant paid by Republican Congressman John Kline (Minnesota’s Second Congressional District), who has proven to be an unreliable witness in the past.

As The UpTake documented in 2008, Diana Bratlie has been paid thousands of dollars by Representative Kline for political research, and has a history of making inaccurate claims about facts, figures and DFL candidates’ stances on issues. In 2008, The UpTake witnessed Bratlie attempting to tell the media that the DFL candidate running against Kline had just said he didn’t want to drill for oil anywhere. She then repeated that claim in a letter to the editor published in the Eagan “This Week” newspaper. A replay of the news conference on which Bratlie based that statement clearly showed that not to be the case. Here’s the video of that story from 2008:

Video transcript and related stories about Bratlie … Continue Reading

Congressional Candidate Madore Favors Transportation Investments, But Still Can’t Debate Kline

Following the Transportation Alliance Candidate Forum in Eagan, Minnesota., today, Minnesota Second District Congressional challenger Shelley Madore touted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s FasterBetterSafer campaign and said that it aligned with her campaign message that “investment in transportation is an essential part of our country’s economic recovery.” Madore echoed the Chamber’s report that each dollar of highway construction generates $1.8 in Gross Domestic Product and every billion dollars supports 28,000 jobs.

Madore’s opponent, Tea-Party-backed Republican incumbent John Kline, has refused to debate her — save for a 25-minute faceoff that Minnesota Public Radio has scheduled for just before the November election. According to Madore, Kline has opposed additional transportation funding. “John Kline’s failure to fight for roads, bridges and schools for our communities has resulted in crumbling bridges such as the Hastings and Lafayette bridges, unsafe roads such as Highway 212 and 5 in Carver County and completely unfunded roads such as the Highway 52 project in Cannon Falls.”

Madore Tries To Debate John Kline

Yesterday in Burnsville, MN, Democratic-Farm-Labor challenger Shelley Madore held a press conference outside her opponent, Republican incumbent John Kline’s office. Madore and Kline are running to represent that state’s 2nd District in Congress.

To date, Kline (a Tea-Party favorite, who wants Christian doctrine included in Washington) has refused to debate Madore or engage in any form of public discourse with her. Most recently Kline canceled the scheduled KSTP/League of Women Voters debate. Earlier this year he was a no-show at Farm Fest, a traditional gathering of all state and congressional candidates.

Following the press conference, Madore delivered a polite letter to Kline’s office, asking him to a public debate at any time.

Madore cites the serious loss of jobs in the 2nd Congressional District to an antiquated transportation system and lock of retraining options. Federal funds are available for both, but Kline has neglected to act.

Who is Shelley Madore?

Shelley Madore — Republican incumbent John Kline’s opponent for Congress — was not endorsed by the Minnesota DFL Party for the 2nd District during the party’s convention. Nevertheless, she decided to run in the primary, won that election, and subsequently gained the DFL endorsement. A former legislator, she has a long history of citizen activism on health and other issues.

So far, Madore has been unable to engage the incumbent, John Kline (a Tea Party favorite who favors the role of Christianity in federal government), in any form of public discourse. Her 35-cent tour is a campaign fixture: “For every federal tax dollar paid in our Congressional District, only 35 cents are spent here in our community,” Madore whipped. “At the same time, John Kline voted for the bill that included the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ in Alaska, among many other bills that included earmarks for other states.”

A Judeo-Christian Nation?

Outspoken Republican Representative Michelle Bachmann was supposed to appear at a “Take Back America” rally at the high school auditorium in Watertown, Minn., last night, but the loud Tea Party icon was a no-show.

Instead, the somewhat subdued, less-than-capacity crowd heard from fellow Rep. John Kline, who spoke of “the importance of Judeo-Christian principles at the core of our great country.”

The conservative Republican lamented those who he infer have let down their guard in the face of radical Islam, and “faceless bureaucrats who are trying to erase God from the public square.” Kline passionately told a story of the ultimately unsuccessful Beltway effort to gloss over the words “In God We Trust” at the virtual House of Representatives in the new Capitol Visitors Center.

Those are interesting views, considering that our collective mourning of the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks this weekend have been clouded by fervently religious and reactionary tones. Is a secular U.S. government an inherent threat to Christianity, as Kline infers?

Today’s UpTake -Upset In Minnesota 2nd Congressional District

Shelley Madore Wins Primary To Face Rep. John Kline

Madore to face Kline

Shelley Madore delivered a surprise to the Minnesota DFL party on Tuesday night. Madore, not DFL-endorsed candidate Dan Powers will be on the November ballot against Republican Congressman John Kline. Madore scored a decisive 10 percentage point victory over Powers in the DFL primary. Madore, a former state representative, got into the race later than Powers and lost the endorsement to him at CD2 DFL convention after several ballots. At the time she said she would back Powers, but a short time later announced she would run against him in the primary.

Other notable results

Chatter about Steven Baker being a right-wing candidate in non-partisan clothing may have been one of the reasons he didn’t make past yesterday’s primary for 1st District Court Judge. Baker ran an aggressive campaign and schmoozed both Democrats and Republicans. The race was seen as a wide open one since the incumbent Tim Blakely was given a six month suspension following allegations he received a $63,500 discount on his divorce costs in exchange for funneling mediation business to his personal lawyer. Blakely still finished first and will be face Larry Clark in the November general election.

Senator Satveer Chadhary could not overcome the loss of his DFL endorsement and lost his primary to Barbara Goodwin. Chadhary had been reprimanded by the Senate for his involvement to secure fishing restrictions on Fish Lake Reservoir, where he owns a cabin.

GOP fears of Anderson and two tight primary races when you continue reading. … Continue Reading

MN Primary Election – Replay of Live Coverage

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To see where the candidates are planning to be on primary night, continue reading … Continue Reading