Capitol View: July 1, 2010 Archive

Emmer talks with Morning Edition

Posted at 10:48 AM on July 1, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

Republican Tom Emmer talked with MPR's Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer this morning. He discussed his statewide tour, his call for lawmakers to no longer accept per diem and his decision to at least consider rail projects as a transportation option.

Listen

Hahn calls for Horner to quit race

Posted at 1:03 PM on July 1, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

Rob Hahn, who is challenging Tom Horner for the Independence Party's nomination in the August 10th primary, says Horner should quit the race. Hahn says he's disappointed that a poll was done by a firm that employs his deputy campaign manager.

The poll, done by Decision Resources, showed Horner with higher poll results than other independent polls. An affidavit filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings also showed that Decision Resources owner Bill Morris shared the poll results with Horner before the results were publicly known. Morris said in an affidavit that he shared the information with The Pioneer Press one day before he shared the information with Horner's campaign. The Minnesota Republican Party filed a complaint with the OAH saying the poll should amount to a corporate contribution.

Hahn also says Diane Traxler is listed on the Decision Resources website as a partner at the firm and also works as Deputy Manager for the Tom Horner for Governor campaign.

Hahn wants Horner to quit the race and is calling on the Independence Party to rescind the IP's backing of Horner.

"The bottom line is that Tom Horner continues a trend of being less than forthcoming with the public, and if he had any sense of responsibility, he would drop out of the race," Hahn said in a news release. "His relationship with DRL is just one of many business relationships he's danced around. And this from a guy who repeatedly says he wants to engage the public in good honest discussions? Compromised collusion personified."

I contacted Horner's campaign for a comment and will post a response once I get one.

Horner's campaign spokesman, Matt Lewis, declined to comment on Hahn's allegation and the hearings. He did release this one sentence statement:

"As a former news producer, Mr. Hahn surely knows that when information is released to the media it is public information."

Expect the issue to come up during tonight's debate between Horner and Hahn. TPT will air the full debate on Friday night.

Judge dismisses GOP complaint against Horner

Posted at 3:01 PM on July 1, 2010 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor

An Administrative law judge dismissed a complaint against Independence Party candidate Tom Horner. The GOP alleged that Horner received a corporate contribution because a pollster provided him with information before it was made public. The judge ruled that pollster Bill Morris, who is supporting Horner, provided the information to the Pioneer Press first.

Here's a portion of the order by Judge Manuel Cervantes:

The Administrative Law Judge concludes that the Complainant has failed to establish probable cause to believe DRL provided Mr. Horner and his campaign committee with a prohibited corporate contribution when it gave Mr. Horner and his committee polling data that it had already provided to the Pioneer Press. As of June 7, 2010, the date Mr. Horner received the data, the polling data was public and available upon request. In fact, it is undisputed that DRL provided the poll results to Margaret Anderson Kelliher's campaign as well as to the Star Tribune, Associated Press, and MinnPost on June 8, 2010. Because the polling data was public and free of charge to anyone upon request, it had no monetary value by the time it was provided to Mr. Horner and it cannot form the basis of a Minn. Stat. § 211B.13 or § 211B.15 complaint.

Horner's campaign manager, Stephen Imholte, issued a statement slamming the GOP for filing the complaint in the first place:

"The judge's ruling today confirms that the complaint made by the Republican Party of Minnesota was bogus. This was nothing more than the GOP trying to cover up polling data showing their candidate had peaked and is now collapsing. What a colossal waste of everyone's time, taxpayers'dollars and of the Republican Party's own contributor's money."

MNGOP Chair Tony Sutton said the party will appeal the ruling:

"The Republican Party of Minnesota will appeal today's decision from the Office of Administrative Hearings. By failing to hold Tom Horner accountable for his acceptance of what we believe is clearly an illegal corporate contribution, Judge Cervantes has created a loop hole the size of Lake Superior which will lead to a wild west situation in which anything goes in our state's elections. We believe Judge Cervantes has committed a 'clear error of law,' and we will begin immediately begin crafting our appeal this afternoon."

The issue also neutralizes Horner's top IP opponent, Rob Hahn's call for Horner to quit the race. Hahn said the entire issue created credibility issues for Horner.

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