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With an insider’s eye, Hot Dish tracks the tastiest bits of Minnesota’s political scene and keep you up-to-date on those elected to serve you.

Contributors in Minnesota: Jennifer Brooks, Baird Helgeson, Patricia Lopez, Jim Ragsdale, Rachel E. Stassen-Berger and Glen Stubbe. Contributors in D.C.: Kevin Diaz and Corey Mitchell.

Posts about Minnesota campaigns

No signature for constitutional amendment

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: May 24, 2013 - 4:21 PM

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Minnesota governors have no power over constitutional amendments but despite that Gov. Mark Dayton has made his voice heard on the Legislature's moves to change the constitution.

When lawmakers approved constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage and require photo id for voting, Dayton symbolically vetoed them. Voters later rejected both amendments.

On Friday, after lawmakers approved a 2016 constitutional amendment to give the power over their pay to an appointed panel, Dayton neither signed nor vetoed the amendment legislation.

Instead, he let it move forward without his signature. The impact is negligible, even when he vetoed last year's constitutional amendments they still appeared on the ballot and if governor's neither sign nor veto bills after session they automatically become law.

But his lack of action could send a message about his feelings about the amendment.

In signing all the rest of the Legislature's bills, Dayton also let a measure raising the thresholds for audits of firefighters’ associations become law without his signature. The measure passed the House and Senate on overwhelming bipartisan votes.

 

Lawmaker pay amendment procedes without Dayton signature

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: May 24, 2013 - 4:16 PM

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Minnesota governors have no legal power over constitutional amendments. Despite that Gov. Mark Dayton has made his voice heard on the Legislature's moves to change the constitution.

When lawmakers approved constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage and require photo id for voting, Dayton symbolically vetoed them. Voters later rejected both amendments.

On Friday, after lawmakers approved a 2016 constitutional amendment to give the power over their pay to an appointed panel, Dayton neither signed nor vetoed the amendment legislation. 

Instead, he let it move forward without his signature. The impact is negligible, even when he vetoed last year's constitutional amendments they still appeared on the ballot and if governor's neither sign nor veto bills after session they automatically become law.

But his lack of action could send a message about his feelings about the amendment.

In signing all the rest of the Legislature's bills, Dayton also let a measure raising the thresholds for audits of firefighters’ associations become law without his signature. The measure passed the House and Senate on overwhelming bipartisan votes.

 

Poll: Dayton approval down but still favored for re-election

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: May 23, 2013 - 12:11 PM

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Gov. Mark Dayton is facing a Minnesota electorate that is split on how well he is doing his job.

According to a new Public Policy Polling poll, completed just before the legislative session concluded on Monday, 49 percent of Minnesotans give him high approval rating and 47 percent give him failing marks. Those numbers are significantly down from January, when 53 percent of Minnesotans approved of the job he was doing and 39 percent did not.

Despite Minnesotans mixed feelings about the governor, they still favor him over potential Republican challengers. He has double digit leads in head to head match ups against 2010 opponent Tom Emmer and Republican candidates Scott Honour and Jeff Johnson. He has similar leads over Republicans Julie Rosen, David Hann, Dave Thompson and Kurt Zellers, all of whom have said they are considering a run.

Democrats can find other good news in the poll.

It found that both DFL and GOP legislators are more unpopular than popular but Republicans are even less popular than Democrats. According to the poll, 36 percent of Minnesotans approve of DFL lawmakers and 23 percent approve of Republicans. The DFL also has a narrow lead on a generic legislative ballot.

The poll also found that Minnesotans continue to be split on same sex marriage with 49 percent supporting and 45 percent opposing. The Legislature and Dayton legalized same sex marriage this year.

On other legislative issues:

  • Half of Minnesotans oppose to letting in home child care workers unionize. The Legislature approved allowing the voters to hold a unionization vote this week.
  • 54 percent support raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour. The House supported raising it to $9.50 this year and the Senate approved raising it to $7.75. The two sides did not reach an agreement and ended up doing nothing this year.
  • While 50 percent of Minnesotans support repaying the school shift, they were split on whether the state should raise taxes to do it. The Minnesota House approved a plan to raise taxes to pay back the shift but dropped the idea in the final deal.
  • 53 percent opposed using an increase in the cigarette tax to fund the new Vikings stadium. Lawmakers agreed to a Dayton plan to do just that.
  • And Minnesotans overwhelmingly supported allowing Sunday liquor sales. Lawmakers turned back proposals to legalize booze sales on Sunday.

 The poll included 38 percent Democrats; 27 percent Republicans and 35 percent independents but more people in the poll -- 38 percent -- described themselves as conservative than liberal -- 32 percent.

The poll had a margin of sampling error of 3.7 percent.

PPP Release MN 52313 by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger

Same-sex marriage group raised $2 mill. for legislative fight

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: May 22, 2013 - 10:00 PM

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The group that successfully pushed to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota raised more than $2 million for its Capitol lobbying effort.

The money went to organize people to contact their legislators and about $500,000 went for advertising, Minnesotans United said.

Campaign manager Richard Carlbom said the group's fund-raising success came from the fact that “everyday Minnesotans wanted to secure the freedom to marry.”

The group’s effort was among the most intense of the legislative session, which concluded Monday. It is also likely to be one of the most well-funded lobbying efforts at the Capitol this year.

In January, some DFL legislative leaders wanted to wait until next year to push for same-sex marriage. But the relentless effort by Minnesotans United culminated in two dramatic floor votes to pass the proposal. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton signed the measure last week in a historic outdoor bill signing.

The group that tried to block same-sex marriage, Minnesota for Marriage, declined to release its fund-raising numbers.

Minnesota for Marriage pushed for a constitutional amendment blocking same-sex marriage, which voters rejected in November. The effort by Minnesotans United to legalize same-sex marriage spawned out of the group's victory defeating the amendment.

The National Organization for Marriage, a main backer of the Minnesota effort to block same-sex marriage, simply did not have the money to spend in Minnesota this year, an official said. NOM had been fighting similar marriage–related battles in several other states.

“There wasn’t the money. There weren’t the resources,” said Frank Schubert, national political director for NOM. “The cupboards were bare, or more than bare.”

Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Minnesota Aug. 1.

Minnesotans United has now created a political-action group to raise money to support candidates who voted to legalize same-sex marriage.
 

Court: Votes for gay marriage not cause for recall

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: May 22, 2013 - 1:29 PM

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The Minnesota Supreme Court says that lawmakers' votes to legalize same sex marriage do not provide cause for recall elections.

Crow Wing County Republican Doug Kern, of rural Brainerd, filed petitions to recall DFL Reps. Joe Radinovich and John Ward based on their support for legalization of same-sex marriage.

"Constituent disagreement with how their elected representative exercised discretion, through public statements made or votes taken, does not equate to malfeasance by the representative," the court said in an order dismissing the recall petition against Radinovich earlier this week. The court issued a similar order dismissing the petition against Ward.

State law sets the recall bar very high for public officials, only allowing recall elections to go forward based on "serious malfeasance or nonfeasance" in performance of public duties.

The dismissal of the recall effort does not end the possible consequences for lawmakers' votes on the marriage issue.

Both the Baxter area Ward represents and the Crosby area Radinovich represents favored the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage last year. If they run for re-election in 2014, voters may express their disappointment at the polls.

 

 

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