Capitol View Category Archive: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1

Bill Clinton backs Tarryl Clark in 8th District DFL primary

Posted at 12:07 PM on July 27, 2012 by Mark Zdechlik
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1, Campaign 2012: U.S. MN CD8

Former State Sen. Tarryl Clark says she's "immensely proud" to have former President Bill Clinton's endorsement in the DFL primary contest between her, former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and former Duluth City Council member Jeff Anderson.

In endorsing Clark over the others, Clinton stated:

"I am proud to support Tarryl Clark for Congress. From her work with the Children's Defense Fund and Legal Services' Senior Law Project, to her commitment to coalition building while leading the state's Community Action Partnership, Tarryl's focus for almost 25 years has been improving Minnesota. I am confident she will bring the common sense solutions we need to Washington."

Primary Election Day is Aug. 14, and the outcome will determine which Democrat runs against 1st-term Republican incumbent Rep. Chip Cravaack.

Cravaack surprised many Democrats around the country two years ago when he defeated long-time Democratic Congressman Jim Oberstar. Oberstar is backing Rick Nolan in the primary. Nolan also has the DFL endorsement.

Clark was quick to use Clinton's endorsement to try to raise some campaign money. She sent out an email to contributors asking them to "follow his lead in supporting me" with a cash donation.

Is same-sex marriage vote losing urgency?

Posted at 3:15 PM on May 20, 2011 by Tim Nelson (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1

Opponents of the measure are hoping the controversy over Bradlee Dean's appearance before the House of Representatives this morning could be pushing off the proposed constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage down the House agenda.

"I think we won a small victory," said Rep. John Kriesel, of Cottage Grove, just before the House adjourned about 2:30 and went into caucus, without taking up the measure as he'd expected. The House is scheduled to return at 7:45 tonight.

Rep. Steve Gottwald, of St. Cloud, says the amendment proposal he sponsored is teed up and can "be brought up at any time."

But in virtually the next sentence, he called the Dean controversy "very unfortunate" and badly timed.

"The marriage amendment has always been about having a discussion among the people of Minnesota decently, respectfully, about the definition of marriage between one man and one woman," Gottwalt said. "And any other agenda is inappropriate. Especially an agenda about hate. So what happened this morning was both unfortunate and disgusting to some extent. That person should not have been here."

He said he hoped Dean's presence wouldn't be linked to the same sex marriage amendment.

"I would hope that no one would try to link the two together, because we have been absolutely clear about the desire for decency and respect in the conversation about the definition of marriage. So for someone to link hate to this would be very unfortunate."

Gottwalt, though, couldn't say when or if he thought the amendment would come up for a vote.

But opponents believe it could get more difficult in coming days.

There are three full days left, and tomorrow will feature the People's Rally for a Fair Minnesota, which is expected to bring thousands of people to the Capitol -- and possibly tempting the biggest demonstration yet against the marriage amendment.

Legislators generally don't meet on Sundays, and the last Monday is often consumed by stop-and-start budget negotiations, rather than the marathon floor debate that the marriage amendment is likely to spark.

The House could put off action on the amendment and try again next year. Supporters would still have time to vote then to put the question on the 2012 ballot.

More ads in 1st District

Posted at 3:37 PM on September 13, 2010 by Mark Zdechlik (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1, Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House

Last week DFL Rep. Tim Walz rolled out his first TV ad of the 2010 election.

Today Rep. Randy Demmer, R-Hayfield, who's challenging Walz, unveiled 3 new radio spots. Two of Demmer's radio ads directly criticize Walz; one for supporting the health care overall and the other for expanding the scope and cost of government.

The Demmer campaign did not say how much its ad buy cost but says the ads will run for two weeks on radio stations throughout southern Minnesota.

The ads are audio only, but Demmer's campaign released them on You Tube.

Walz to air first TV ad of campaign

Posted at 5:05 PM on September 8, 2010 by Mark Zdechlik
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1, Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House

DFL Rep. Tim Walz today unveiled the first TV ad of his 2010 re-election campaign.

Walz rolled out the ad at news conferences in Mankato and Rochester. The two-term incumbent's 30-second spot features a Vietnam veteran applauding Walz for his efforts to help veterans.

The Walz campaign said the ad would run in the 1st District, but wouldn't give details about how much the ad buy cost or how long the ad would run

Walz's Republican challenger, State Rep. Randy Demmer, is planning TV ads too, but Demmer's campaign would not say when its ads will be on the air.

Here's the Walz ad:

Speeches from the 1st District GOP convention

Posted at 4:44 PM on April 19, 2010 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1, Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: Minnesota Governor, Campaign 2010: U.S. House, Pawlenty travel, Tim Pawlenty

On Saturday, Republicans in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District endorsed state Rep. Randy Demmer to challenge DFL Rep. Tim Walz.

I'm posting the speech he gave just before he was endorsed by acclamation. Listen

Republicans Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer, who are both vying for the GOP endorsement for governor, also spoke at the event.

Here's Seifert's speech: Listen

Here's Emmer's speech: Listen

Update: Gov. Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC is backing Demmer for Congress. His spokesman, Alex Conant, says the PAC will give $2400 to Demmer's campaign.

Demmer to face Walz in November

Posted at 6:04 PM on April 17, 2010 by Mike Mulcahy
Filed under: Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1, Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House

From MPR's Mark Zdechlik in Mankato:

Republican party delegates in southern Minnesota's 1st Congressional District Saturday endorsed State Rep. Randy Demmer to run against two-tier DFL Rep. Tim Walz.

The endorsement came late Saturday afternoon in Mankato where 1st District Republicans held their convention at Minnesota State University.

Demmer's endorsement came after eight ballots. The endorsement ended up being a battle between Demmer and former state Rep. Allen Quist and ended with Quist's withdrawal.

Also vying for the endorsement of the roughly 250 delegates were Jim Hagedorn and Jim Engstrand.

Randy Demmer, who's in his forth legislative term, argues he's a perfect fit for the first district because of his background as a farmer, a small business owner and a school board member.

Demmer accused Walz of being in lock step with national Democratic leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and said he's totally committed to defeating Walz.

"We know that Tim Walz is working with Nancy Pelosi, he's right there with her doing everything that she beckons him to do. That is not representation for the 1st District of Minnesota," Demmer said.

Demmer promised delegates he would run an "issues-based" campaign.

A political analyst in the 1st District says toppling Walz will not be easy, even if the tide in 2010 ends up favoring Republicans.

In 2008 Walz won with more than 60 percent of the vote. Walz has already raised more than $ 1 million for his 2010 campaign.

"After 6 months of negative campaigning, we are very interested in finally hearing state Rep. Demmer's ideas to solve the immense challenges we face," said Walz's campaign manager Richard Carlbom.

"We are going to continue running our campaign on Tim's record of effective service for southern Minnesota. Tim has delivered for our businesses on main street while holding Wall Street accountable, delivered for our veterans by working to ensure they receive the benefits they have earned, delivered for middle class families with the largest tax cut in history and delivered for students by making sure college is more affordable. Folks in southern Minnesota know Tim works for them."

Davis and Paulsen address the delegates

Posted at 6:43 PM on September 3, 2008 by Molly Bloom
Filed under: Campaign 2008, Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD1, Campaign 2008: U.S. MN CD3

As I wrote yesterday, the non-incumbent Republicans running for U.S. Congress addressed the Minnesota delegation at their Tuesday breakfast.

Now you can feel like you were there. Here are the speeches from the candidates in the two most competitive races:

Brian Davis (running in the 1st Congressional Distrcict)

and Erik Paulsen (running in the 3rd Congressional District)