Capitol View: September 22, 2009 Archive

Is Chris Coleman using mayoral campaign funds for 2010 planning?

Posted at 8:35 AM on September 22, 2009 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has been widely rumored to be considering a run for governor in 2010. He's also running for reelection as St. Paul's mayor this year.

Here's the rub...

Coleman's mayoral opponent, Eva Ng, is calling on Coleman to explain why his campaign committee is spending money on airline tickets, restaurants and hotels outside the city of St. Paul. She's citing Coleman's own campaign fundraising report.

Here's the list compiled from Ng's campaign:

Travel & Hotels

3/12/09 Midwest Airlines for $619.39

3/13/09 Orbitz.com for $107.88

7/23/09 Alexandria, MN Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center Deposit for $200.00

7/30/09 Rochester, MN Kahler Grand Hotel for $452.98

7/30/09 Northwest Airlines for $249.19

8/17/09 Alexandria, MN Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center Lodging Payment for $107.80

Meals & Restaurants

6/18/09 CD7 Dinner for $60.00

7/29/09 Rochester, MN Gilligan's Cove restaurant for $13.00

7/30/09 Rochester, MN Kahler Grand Grill for $86.89

8/3/09 Granite City Brewery for $35.82 (There are no Granite City Brewery locations in St. Paul: http://www.gcfb.net/locations.cfm)

Donations to Political Units Outside St. Paul

2/7/09 Senate District 32 DFL (includes Maple Grove, Osseo, Rogers) received $50.00

6/11/09 Rice County DFL received $200.00

I'm waiting for a response from the Coleman campaign and will post it when they comment.

Update: Coleman campaign manager John Stiles said Coleman spent campaign money to address The Young Democrats of America Convention, the Minnesota Building Trades Convention and the State Convention of the Minnesota Association of Justice. He said it's expected that Coleman traveled to major political events.

"He's one of the most prominent Democrats in Minnestoa and thesre are places that any prominent Democratic mayor of St. Paul would go," Stiles said.

Stiles said it's likely that Coleman discussed a probable run for governor in 2010 at the events but added that St. Paul voters are not bothered by a possible run for governor. He pointed to Coleman's overwhelming victory in last week's primary.

UPDATE: From the you can't make this up department. On the same day that she's criticizing Coleman for traveling outside of St. Paul, Eva Ng is holding a fundraiser in (drumroll) Inver Grove Heights. It's on the MNGOP website.

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Pawlenty to start PAC

Posted at 12:09 PM on September 22, 2009 by Tom Scheck

A spokesman for Gov. Pawlenty says Pawlenty will launch a federal PAC soon. The Fix first reported said that a "Save the date" e-mail has been sent out recently:

The "Freedom First" PAC is slated to hold its first official event in November, according to a save-the-date e-mail being circulated among Republican activists. The event, which includes a reception and a dinner, is scheduled for Nov. 4 at the Minneapolis Hilton. To serve as a "chair" for the fundraiser, an individual must collect $100,000 for the event while "co-chairs" are required to bring in $50,000. Individual tickets cost $5,000.

Star Tribune reporter Rachel Stassen-Berger said she broke the story.

Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant confirmed a PAC was being formed:

Governor Pawlenty is in the process of starting the "Freedom First" PAC. I expect it will launch within the next few weeks. When the Governor said he wouldn't seek re-election, he said in addition to finishing his term strong, he would help other Republicans candidates, and obviously a PAC is one key way to do that. In recent weeks, he has spoken to various groups, campaigned with various candidates, and been elected vice-chair of the Republican Governors Association. Starting a PAC is a logistical next step, and one that he has talked about on the record several times..."

For his part, Pawlenty said on Monday that he would start a PAC soon but didn't offer any greater detail.

"We are making plans for that type of entity but I will let you get that official information that's announced. It's something that we're working on."

A federal PAC is considered the next step in the process to building a viable presidential campaign. It will allow Pawlenty to travel the country and raise money for political candidates.

UPDATE: Here's the invite:

Governor Tim Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC Kick-off Event

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Minneapolis Hilton

1001 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403

Reception 5:30-6:30pm

$1,000/person

Dinner 6:30pm

$5,000/person or $10,000/couple

Event Committee Levels:

Event Chair:

Raise $100,000 for the event.

Two tickets to a private dessert reception with Governor Pawlenty.

20 tickets to reception.

2 tables of 10 at dinner.

Event Co-Chair:

Raise $50,000 for the event.

10 tickets to reception.

1 table of 10 at dinner.

Event Co-Host:

Raise $20,000 for the event.

4 tickets to reception.

1 table of 10 at dinner.

Individual Tickets:

$5,000/person for reception & dinner.
$1,000/person for reception only.

Checks can be made out to: Freedom First PAC and sent to P.O. Box 9190, St. Paul, MN 55109-0190

DNC on Pawlenty PAC

Posted at 1:48 PM on September 22, 2009 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

Here's a statement from DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan on Gov. Pawlenty's federal PAC:

"Tim Pawlenty is quickly becoming the definition of 'say one thing and do another'. Today's news about Pawlenty starting a political action committee is just the latest in a series of broken pledges by the Governor - first breaking his pledge to not raise taxes on the people of Minnesota, and now breaking his pledge to finish his term 'strong' as Governor. This is just more evidence that Pawlenty is, at best, a part-time Governor who cares more about his national political ambitions than the people of Minnesota."

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Kohls: Slash state spending to 2004-2005 levels

Posted at 5:23 PM on September 22, 2009 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

GOP state Rep. Paul Kohls of Victoria announced today that he wants to cut spending to 2004-2005 spending levels or about $28 billion. Kohls, who is running for governor, said the state can fund education, public safety, infrastructure and other "nice to haves" but didn't reveal where the billions of dollars in cuts would come from. You can listen to his news conference here.

Listen

Question of the day: Do you listen to the audio files of the announcements/news conferences? Are they worth putting up or should we shelve it? I'm thinking about putting the audio up as the candidates hold announcements, etc. but I'd like your input to gauge whether this is a good use of time. Discuss...

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