Capitol View: October 12, 2009 Archive

DFLers in 6th release fundraising numbers.

Posted at 10:32 AM on October 12, 2009 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

The Democrats hoping to unseat GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District have released their fundraising figures.

DFL state Sen. Tarry Clark reports raising $308,000 for her campaign for Congress in Minnesota 6th District. The campaign reports that she has $270,000 left in the bank.

Clark is hoping to challenge GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann in the 2010 election. She also has a DFL challenger in Maureen Reed. Reed's campaign has not released their fundraising figures yet.

Update Reed's campaign reports that they have raised a total of $360,000 since the campaign started. They report raising $130,000 in the 3rd quarter and have $300k left in the bank. Jason Isaacson said they are working to raise $2.5 million for the campaign. Update

Bachmann's campaign manager, Michelle Marston said they will submit their report on Wednesday.

Comment on this post

MMB: Federal stimulus saved or created 11,800 jobs in MN

Posted at 10:50 AM on October 12, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Minnesota Management and Budget released figures today saying that the federal stimulus has created or saved 11,800 jobs in Minnesota through the end of September. The state agency was required to provide the figures to the federal government over the weekend. The report also says more than $1.6 billion in stimulus money has been received and spent by the state.

You can read the full news release here. To dig deeper into the state data, visit this website.

Pawlenty has a busy speaking schedule this week.

Posted at 10:58 AM on October 12, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Gov. Pawlenty has four speeches scheduled for the week in three different time zones.

He's scheduled to speak before the Minnesota Business Partnership on Tuesday night. He'll be speaking before the organization's annual dinner in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Business Partnership, is represented by "more than 110 chief executives from Minnesota's largest employers."

Pawlenty is also scheduled to "privately" speak to the Republican Metropolitan Committee this evening. You can learn more about that group here.

The governor is also scheduled to speak before the Republican Jewish Coalition this week and Western Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

MMB: State tax collections $52 million short

Posted at 3:31 PM on October 12, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Minnesota Management and Budget reported that tax receipts were $52 million behind projections in the third quarter. The agency said income tax collections were the main problem, falling some $93 million behind projections. Sales tax collections were $20 million below forecast. The two bright spots were corporate taxes, which were $52 million above expectations, and motor vehicle taxes - which were 25 percent ahead of projections. That increase can be tied to the federal cash for clunkers plan that gave rebates to people who traded in high emission vehicles for new cars. Cash for clunkers is no longer available.

On the jobs front, forecasters expect the state's unemployment rate to continue to climb until next Spring. You can read the full report here.

Update:

An official with MMB said the next budget forecast is tentatively scheduled for December 3rd 2nd.

Two more candidates join hunger forum

Posted at 4:18 PM on October 12, 2009 by Tim Pugmire

As we reported last week, Hunger Solutions Minnesota is hosting a gubernatorial forum this Wednesday in St. Paul, at the River Centre.

Organizers announced today that two more candidates, R.T. Rybak and Leslie Davis, have agreed to participate. That makes eight DFLers and four Republicans who'll be there.

Republican David Hann and Democrat Chris Coleman are no longer listed as partcipating. Hann had a scheduling conflict. Coleman announced last week that he's no longer running for governor.

Here's the new roster: Tom Bakk, Leslie Davis, Mark Dayton, Tom Emmer, Susan Gaertner, Mike Jungbauer, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, John Marty, Tom Rukavina, R.T. Rybak, Marty Seifert and Paul Thissen.

UPDATE

A spokesman for Rybak says the mayor will not attend.

Norm is reportedly Pawlenty's "main man" in the Jewish Community.

Posted at 6:20 PM on October 12, 2009 by Tom Scheck

The New York Jewish Week has jumped into the 2012 speculation game by writing a blog post on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The story said former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman is Pawlenty's "main man" in the Jewish community. Coleman praises Pawlenty but there appears to be some speculation as to whether a Republican candidate can make significant gains in the Jewish voting community.

Here's a synopsis of the blog post:

Pawlenty's main man in the Jewish community is former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), whose 2008 defeat at the hands of Sen. Al Franken was in the courts for many months.

Not surprisingly, Coleman is optimistic that Pawlenty, not exactly a household name to Jewish voters, is well positioned to do what so many other Republicans have failed to do: attract a much bigger chunk of the Jewish presidential vote.

"His appeal to Jewish voters will be the same as for voters across the board," Coleman told me last week. "He is thoughtful and smart, he understands that our party has to unite and reach out rather than divide. He knows how to get things done. The qualities he has I wish more in our party had."

Pawlenty is scheduled to speak before the Republican Jewish Coalition later this week. Coleman was a consultant to that organization earlier this year.

Meffert considers a run in the 3rd

Posted at 6:29 PM on October 12, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Jim Meffert, a DFLer who lives in Edina, said "I'm thinking about it" when asked if he's running for Congress in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District. Meffert said he doesn't know when he'll make a decision saying "I have to tie up a few loose ends" and weigh his professional and family obligations with the time needed to run a campaign.

Meffert is currently a lobbyist with the Minnesota Optometric Association and is current president of the Minnesota Parent Teacher Association.

If he runs, he'll be hoping to unseat GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen. Paulsen is in his first term in Congress after winning a knock down, drag out fight in 2008. Stu Rothenberg currently rates the race in Minnesota's 3rd as "leans Republican." The Cook Political Report says it's "likely Republican."

Speculation about Meffert's candidacy was first reported by MN Progressive Project.

"She's no Sarah Palin..."

Posted at 10:24 PM on October 12, 2009 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

MPR's Madeleine Baran reports that the Michele Bachmann action figure isn't selling so well. The owner of the company that manufactures the action figure said fifty copies of the Bachmann action figure were sold since it was created on September 25th.

"I'll tell you this, she's no Sarah Palin," said Emil Vicale, CEO of HeroBuilders.

He said the company's action figure depicting Republican Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and former vice presidential candidate, sold 10,000 units within 24 hours of its debut.

Read the entire story here.

Comment on this post