Pawlenty Prepared To Serve Beyond End Of Term

The following is a statement from Governor Tim Pawlenty regarding the pending results of Minnesota’s gubernatorial election:

“The hard work and participation of so many Minnesotans leading up to and throughout yesterday’s election affirms Minnesota’s civic mindedness. While questions remain about the outcome of several contests, there is a process in place to provide the people of Minnesota with a final result as quickly as fairness and the law allows.

My administration is fully committed and prepared to accomplish the swift and orderly transition to the next governor as soon as a final determination is made. As required by Article V of the Minnesota Constitution, I will continue to serve as Governor until a new governor takes the oath.”

Replay-Mark Ritchie On Possible Recount

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie answers questions about a possible recount in Minnesota’s Gubernatorial race. The margin must be within one-half of one-percent after the counts are certified by the State Canvassing Board which meets on November 24th. Should there be a recount, Ritchie says cameras and observers will be allowed in the recount areas under “essentially the same” procedures as used in 2008 during the recount between Senator Al Franken and now former Senator Norm Coleman. The UpTake provided comprehensive coverage of that recount and resulting election contest trial. Interested in helping us out with covering this one? Drop us an email at info@theuptake.org

GOP Preparing Legal Action

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Oberstar Loses Shocker After 36 Years In Congress

It appears the end of the road has come for Minnesota’s top ranking Democrat in Congress. At 4:30 AM With 98% of the vote counted, Jim Oberstar was trailing his Republican opponent Chip Cravaack by 4,228 votes.  The unofficial 48.2% to 46.7% victory for Cravaack is outside of the one-half of one-percent margin needed to trigger an automatic recount.  A few precincts in generally DFL Itasca, Atkin and St. Louis Counties have  yet to report, making it possible to bring Oberstar into automatic recount range, but not likely enough for him to win.

Oberstar went to bed around 1:30 AM telling his staff that he was confident of victory even though he was trailing at the time. At that point, St. Louis County which includes the DFL stronghold of Duluth had yet to report most of its votes.  Those votes came in heavily for Oberstar, but they were not enough to overcome votes for Cravaack from late-reporting Republican leaning counties.

Minnesota Recount? You Betcha!

What do Minnesotans fear more than the avalanche of negative ads leading up to an election? A recount of that election. If less than one-half of one-percent of the votes for Governor separate Mark Dayton from Tom Emmer, Minnesotans will see another statewide recount. An automatic recount is triggered when the race is that close unless the losing candidate waives the right to a recount.

As of 4 AM, unofficial results showed Democrat Mark Dayton ahead of Republican Tom Emmer on the hairy edge of that one-half of one-percent margin with 99 percent of the vote counted. The race would need to be closer than 10, 499 votes out of 2,09,825 cast. Dayton is leading Emmer by 9,324. Unless Dayton can widen his lead by about 1,175 votes, an automatic recount will be triggered.

If the final official count shows Dayton winning by .5% or more, there still could be a recount if Emmer and the Republican Party are willing to pay for one.

There’s a third option as well. A “test” recount.  Emmer could ask that up to three precincts be recounted, pay for those recounts and then decide whether to go ahead with a statewide recount.

Minnesota’s last statewide recount between Senator Al Franken and now former Senator Norm Coleman lasted about two months and then was followed by an election contest trial that dragged on for another six months.

Either candidate could file an election contest lawsuit within five days of the canvassing board certifying the results. The State Canvassing Board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday November 23rd and declare a result no later than three days after completing the canvass.

Dayton “Cautiously Optimistic” About Win

Just after 2 AM, the DFL turned the lights out and sent the party home, hopeful but not positive that Mark Dayton was going to be the next Governor of Minnesota. Dayton had about a 15,000 vote lead over Republican Tom Emmer with 94% of the vote counted. Independent Party Tom Horner conceded early in the evening, drawing only 12% of the vote.  Dayton told the crowd at the DFL victory party that he was “cautiously optimistic” about winning since the trends were going his way. Shortly after Dayton addressed the crowd, DFL party Chair Brian Melendez told them to go home.

Tom Emmer speaks

Tom Emmer addresses the anticipatory throng late in the night (or early morning) at the GOP party on election night 2010, at the Bloomington Sheraton.

Tom Horner Concedes MN Governor Race

Independence Party candidate for Governor Tom Horner calls it a night after seeing his vote totals peak at 12 percent. Democrat Mark Dayton maintains about a 8,900 vote lead over Republican Tom Emmer and the race appears to be headed for a recount.

Replay – DFL Get Out the Vote Rally

Democratic-Farm-Labor party hold a Get Out the Vote Rally in St. Paul. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, Mayors RT Rybak and Chris Coleman and other DFL leaders appear with gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton and his sons, Eric and Andrew Dayton.

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Campaign Cash: Biggest Loser Corporate Edition—Spending $2 Million on a Losing Race in Iowa

Campaign Cash Watch

by Zach Carter, Media Consortium

Corporate America is on the attack in every state. As Joshua Holland explains for AlterNet, outside groups have spent somewhere between $750,000 and more than $2 million in an attempt to unseat Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) in a state where ad buys come cheap. But Braley is almost certain to win anyway, even if his lead isn’t quite as comfortable as it was in 2008, when he took 64 percent of the vote. This is what corporations and wealthy elites are willing to pony up in races they’re sure to lose.

Most of that money comes from two groups: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a front-group for some of the nation’s largest corporations, and America’s Future Fund, a right-wing front-group founded by GOP lobbyist and ethanol executive Nick Ryan. Public News Service‘s Eric Mack highlights the races in Hawkeye state that are unusually flush with cash.

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission earlier this year, corporations and wealthy elites now have license to spend unlimited sums to promote candidates they like (or attack ones they don’t). Things are already getting out of hand. Outside groups are dumping millions of dollars into obscure races this year—even in places where they appear to have almost no chance of victory.

Republican candidates are raking it in

Thanks to Citizens United, much of the spending in midterm elections is secret. We’ll never know who is spending millions of dollars on anonymous attack ads. But a tiny fraction of the electoral purchases by outside groups have been disclosed, and if those are any guide, the Republican Party is reaping the vast majority of the rewards. As Jesse Zwick details for The Washington Independent, of the roughly $12 million in public corporate expenditures, they’re spending more than $9.7 million on behalf of Republican candidates.

The Chamber of Commerce’s long history in elections … Continue Reading

Supporters Noticing:Emmer Won’t Answer on Abortion – Again

First the press, and now others are noticing Republican candidate for Governor Tom Emmer won’t answer on abortion.

The first clip is from Almanac on October 29, 2010, Cathy Wurzer gives him three chances and reminds him he sponsored five antiabortion bills last session.

At 1:30 Minnesota Public Radio’s Gary Eichten asks Emmer pretty much the same questions at the Fitzgerald Theater debate on 10/31/10.

At 3:00, after the Fitzerald debate, I talked to an Emmer supporter on the left, and a Horner supporter on the right. They both said he didn’t answer the question. Representative Tom Emmer doesn’t think this election is about abortion, he thinks it’s about jobs and the economy. But for some people, it is.

Transcript and captioned video … Continue Reading