Capitol View: February 18, 2010 Archive

Help me Rhonda

Posted at 10:14 AM on February 18, 2010 by Tim Pugmire
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

Republican candidate for governor Marty Seifert has selected an Anoka County commissioner as his lieutenant governor running mate.

Seifert announced his selection today of Rhonda Sivarajah. Here's the campaign news release:

Marty Seifert announced Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah as his running mate today at a press conference in St Paul. Sivarajah has served as the district 6 Anoka County Commissioner since being elected in 2002.

Marty Seifert said, Rhonda has real world experience running a small business, life experience raising a family, and practical experience as an Anoka county commissioner with a record of downsizing government through creative solutions.

Rhonda Sivarajah added, I am proud to join Marty Seifert's effort to bring conservative values to Minnesota government. With our combined experience and vision, I am confident we have what it takes to lead a successful campaign for Minnesota's highest office.

Seifert picks Sivarajah

Posted at 12:28 PM on February 18, 2010 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

Republican Marty Seifert announced today that Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah will be his running mate in his bid for governor. Sivarajah has served three terms as commissioner and praised Seifert's leadership during his time in the Legislature.

There are several points that popped up during the news conference. Sivarajah said she ran for Anoka County Commissioner because she shared the same frustration as the members of the Tea Party movement. Seifert also said balancing the ticket was important to him (Sivarajah is a female from the suburbs who doesn't have experience in the State Capitol). She said she did vote for Bill Clinton in 1992 "but not the second time."

Finally, they sidestepped a question regarding differences. She would only say that Seifert likes Star Wars and she doesn't.

Note - I'll post the q and a once the video is encoded.

Here's the q and a with reporters:

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Democrats vow to override expected veto of GAMC.

Posted at 7:12 PM on February 18, 2010 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor, MN Legislature

Shortly after Pawlenty announced through a spokesman that he would veto the bill, three Democrats in the Minnesota House lined up outside reporter's doors to say they won't stand for it. DFL Representative Paul Thissen of Minneapolis said Democrats, hospital officials and advocates for the poor will work to convince three Republicans to override.

"They're going to be hearing from their hospitals and their communities and I think for that reason we are going to pick up the votes to override this veto and we should."

38 Republicans in the House voted for the bill but GOP House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers promised his caucus will uphold the veto. He said he thinks any solution to the program should be included in a plan to fix the state's $1.2 billion budget deficit.

"We think it's part of a bigger budget solution. This should be a part of it, the GAMC fix or a new program should be a part of that fix. We're going to work together again, just like we did with this version of it to find a solution that not only the governor can agree to but the house and senate can agree to as well."

Democrats have a veto proof majority in the Minnesota Senate so the true test will be whether House Democrats in the House can muster the votes needed to override.

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Pawlenty vetoes GAMC bill

Posted at 7:49 PM on February 18, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor, Pawlenty travel, Tim Pawlenty

Gov. Pawlenty acted quickly on his threat to veto the GAMC bill. In a letter to the Legislature, Pawlenty wrote:

"I initially vetoed the program in May, 2009 because its costs were skyrocketing out of control, and the program was badly in need of reform. Senate File 2168 does not represent meaningful reform and does not address fundamental costs issues. It essentially re-established GAMC in its prior form, while reducing provider reimbursement rates by 50 percent."

You can read his veto letter here.

Emmer not focused on picking a running mate

Posted at 11:48 PM on February 18, 2010 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

It's been a hectic day but I wanted to post Tom Emmer's comments regarding his decision on a possible running mate.

Emmer said he's not focused on selecting or screening candidates at this time. He said he's more worried about on convincing delegates to back him at the party convention.

"I think this happens in sports all of the time. People who are coaching are trying to change their game plan based on what the other team is doing. That's not what we're doing. We're going to stay on focus on what we're going to do and we'll continue to raise the level of the discussion as far as the Republican endorsement is concerned."

Emmer made his comments after his top GOP rival, Marty Seifert, announced that he picked Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah as his running mate. Both Emmer and Seifert say they'll drop out of the race if party activists don't back them at the State Party convention on April 30th.

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