Capitol View: November 4, 2010 Archive

The Daily Digest

Posted at 6:56 AM on November 4, 2010 by Tom Scheck (3 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

Get ready for a another recount. The race for governor is too close to call with Democrat Mark Dayton leading Republican Tom Emmer by 8,856 votes.

Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton says it's his party's turn to go on the offensive after suffering a stinging loss in the 2008 U.S. Senate race.

One issue the GOP and Gov. Pawlenty raised is a reporting error by Hennepin County. The county election's director says the error was in reporting not in the vote count.

Dayton says the recount isn't a reelection but the integrity of the election that was held on Tuesday. He isn't declaring victory, however.

Republican Tom Emmer released a statement on Wednesday morning but was not seen publicly. One key question for Emmer is how far will he push the issue?

Here's what a recount would look like.

The Pi Press says Dayton has Emmer's missteps and the IP's Tom Horner to thank for his slim lead.

Gov. Pawlenty says he'll stay on if a new governor isn't seated by January 3rd. That could lead to an aggressive GOP pushing for budget cuts until a new governor is seated. AP and the Star Tribune take a look at those scenarios.

Turnout on Tuesday appears be nearly 58 percent.

Legislature

Republicans sweep into power in the Legislature. It's the first time in nearly forty years that the GOP will control both the House and the Senate.

The suburbs shifted back to the GOP.

House Republicans have scheduled a caucus for Saturday morning to elect leadership positions. House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers is expected to be elected Speaker of the House. Several names have surfaced for House Majority Leader. GOP Rep. Matt Dean, who ran the political efforts this year, says he's running. Other names mentioned are Pat Garofalo and Rod Hamilton. One issue that will be discussed within the caucus is geographic balance. Zellers represents the suburbs so there may be a call for a rural Republican to be Majority Leader. UPDATE: Garofalo says he's NOT running for Majority Leader. Another name to pop up is Bob Gunther.

GOP Sen. Amy Koch says she's running to become Senate Majority Leader. Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem is also expected to run but hasn't stated his intentions publicly. Senate Republicans meet on Friday to elect their leadership team.

DFL Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller won't seek a leadership post now that Senate Democrats are in the minority.

It will be interesting to see how much money the Senate DFL Caucus had in the bank at the end of the election. The 10 day pre-general report showed the caucus with $500k left. A heavy cash balance would show that the DFL Senate left money on the table that could have protected a few more members.

Congress

President Obama shoulders the blame for big Democratic losses in the House and Senate. He offers a compromise on tax cuts.

The New York Times says the GOP victory in the House means a role reversal for incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner.

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann says she'll run for a leadership position in the U.S. House. She'll run for the party's conference chair, the number four post when the GOP takes over in January.

On Wednesday night, Bachmann sounded off on government spending but didn't outline specific cuts.

GOP Rep. John Kline will lead efforts to undo health care reform.

Voters in Minnesota's 8th District say Jim Oberstar became "big government." Republican Chip Cravaack defeated him on Tuesday.

The Star Tribune takes a look at how Minnesota will score on the clout meter.

Economy

The Federal Reserve gets aggressive by buying bonds.

Pawlenty for Prez Watch

Gov. Pawlenty was on Fox's Hannity last night and said he'll announce in the first quarter of next year. Check out how many times he says he grew up in a meat-packing town during his five minute appearance.

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