Reichgott Junge changes billboards

Posted at 12:15 PM on July 27, 2006 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Ember Reichgott Junge issued a news release saying she will comply with the DFL Party's complaint and change her billboards. The DFL Party said Reichgott Junge was violating state law by only including the letters DFL on her billboards, website and e-mails. They argued that only the DFL endorsed candidate, Keith Ellison, could do that. Here's the news release:

(Minneapolis, MN) Former DFL Senate Assistant Majority Leader Ember Reichgott Junge, DFL candidate for the Fifth District Congressional Primary, announced today that the changes requested by the DFL party on her campaign website, emails, and billboards will be completed Monday.

Reichgott Junge said she was first informed of the problem by a “cease and desist” letter issued by the DFL Party on July 10. “Frankly, I was surprised at the strident tone of the letter,” said Reichgott Junge. “The initials DFL had been prominently displayed on our campaign website since April, and we were never notified by the party or anyone else that there was a problem.”

Reichgott Junge said they began making the requested changes upon receipt of the letter. “A simple phone call from my friends at the DFL alerting me to the problem in May or June could have easily resolved the issue,” she said.

The following changes have been made:

July 13: website (www.emberforcongress.com) changed to:

“DFL Primary—Fifth District”

July 17: E-blasts changed to: “DFL Primary September 12”

July 26: Two billboards changed to “DFL Member” at the following locations:

328-3rd Street, Minneapolis
5415 W. Broadway, Crystal

By July 28: Two billboards changed to “DFL Member” and moved to the following new locations:

1417 E. Lake Street, Minneapolis
4300 Nicollet, Minneapolis

By July 31, there will be no billboards that are unchanged.

Reichgott Junge said she has been clear from the outset that she would be on the primary ballot. “I said on the first day of my candidacy that an endorsement period of seven weeks was too short a time to properly vet the candidates for a position as important as U.S. Congress.”

Reichgott Junge said she placed the initials “DFL” on her billboards because she is a long-time DFL Senate leader and broadcast analyst, and she thought it was important for voters to know she was a candidate in the DFL primary rather than another party primary.

The DFL’s requested changes took several weeks to complete, because of timelines required by the billboard company, and issues arising from existing contractual obligations. All changes will be completed by July 31.

During this interim period, an administrative law judge issued a probable cause order, referring the matter to the next stage of an evidentiary hearing before three administrative law judges.

“These changes should end the issue,” said Reichgott Junge. “I love my party. I look forward to joining DFL leaders around the state in focusing on our key mission: changing the direction of this country and electing DFL candidates in November.”

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Comments (1)

So why didn't she take them down after getting the letter from the party? It would have been a lot easier to slap up a few stickers than it must have been to hire a lawyer, go to an administrative hearing and argue that the Supreme Court didn't really mean it when it said explicitly and repeatedly that this is not allowed.

Posted by Party Man | July 27, 2006 1:48 PM

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