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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, Mike Kaszuba, Patricia Lopez, Jim Ragsdale, Brad Schrade and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger. Contributors in D.C.: Kevin Diaz and Corey Mitchell.

Posts about Minnesota campaigns

Same-sex marriage opponents plot legislative strategy

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: December 19, 2012 - 7:49 AM

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By Baird Helgeson

Minnesota for Marriage, the group that tried unsuccessfully to put a same-sex marriage ban in the state Constitution, is holding a strategy session today to block a potential legislative push to legalize same-sex marriage.

Many same-sex marriage advocates want to change the law now that Democrats control the Legislature and the governor’s office.

Same-sex marriage opponents are also trying to find ways to strengthen "traditional marriage" in the Legislature, said Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, which has been heavily involved in the effort.

“Minnesota for Marriage will continue to grow the network of over 90,000 supporters amassed during the marriage amendment campaign,” Adkins said.

Bipartisan bunch pushes National Popular Vote

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: December 17, 2012 - 11:39 AM

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On the same day Minnesota's presidential electors will ceremonially cast their votes for President Barack Obama, a bipartisan bunch of Minnesota lawmakers proposed exchanging the power of the Electoral College and making the national popular vote supreme.

The new system, backed by a diverse group of legislators, would give weight to the number of actual votes presidential candidates get, rather than just number of Electoral College votes, in presidential elections. A diverse group of Minnesota backers say it would  mean every vote would have equal value during presidential campaigns, removing the candidates' incentive to focus primarily on the handful swing states.

"Everyone understands that places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, swing states, this is a really good process for them right now. Unfortunately, the rest of the country gets hosed," backer Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, said Monday.

The idea of swapping the power of the electoral college for a popular vote system is not new. A Minnesota measure to join a national compact pass a single committee passed a Republican-controlled House committee last year but never got a full vote in either the House or the Senate.

But, with another presidential election in which Minnesota was all but ignored in the rear view, supporters hope the change will be embraced.

"It's an idea whose time is come," said backer Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope. Rep. Steve Simon, incoming chair of the House elections committee and a St. Louis Park Democrat, is a support and outgoing House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, supported the 2011 measure.

Detractors fear the a popular vote system would mean that candidates would focus only on populous states and fear the specter of a national recount, which could paralyze the process.

This year's national Republican Party platform took a strong position against the idea.

"We recognize that an unconstitutional effort to impose “national popular vote” would be a mortal threat to our federal system and a guarantee of corruption as every ballot box in every state would become a chance to steal the presidency," the GOP platform says. The national Democratic platform lacks a similar position.

The current proposal would not dump the electoral college system completely, which would require a constitutional amendment. Instead, if it wins approval, it would guarantee that presidential electors would give their votes to whomever wins the popular vote. 

For the change to take effect, states across the country, whose votes are worth 270 electoral college votes, would have to approve a compact giving power to the national popular vote. So far, nine states, with 132 electoral votes, have approved the plan.

"We're almost half way to where we need to be to change the system constitutionally," said Pat Rosenstiel, consultant to the National Popular Vote campaign.

At noon on Monday, Minnesota's presidential electors -- all Democrats -- will meet to cast their ballots for Obama at the State Capitol.

 

Campaign finance board to recommend overhaul

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: December 12, 2012 - 5:45 PM

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The Minnesota agency charged with watching campaign spending will push the Legislature to give it a heftier budget, approve  higher donation limits and require more groups disclosure their finances.

The proposals from the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, approved by members on Wednesday, are the latest sign the laws have not kept pace with the newly expensive campaigns in Minnesota. They would be need legislative and gubernatorial approval but the powers at the Capitol have expressed interest in updating the system.

The board will also ask the Legislature for a $1 million budget in each of the next four years,  which would allow the information the state currently collects to be more accessible to the public. Right now, it requires more than glancing knowledge of the state's big money players to dig out public information from the agency's web site. If the board gets its budget, the site will be completely overhauled.

"We're not happy with it," said board executive director Gary Goldsmith.

The board members will also ask the Legislature to raise the contribution limits for state candidates and raise the amount of money lawmakers and constitutional officers could spending in their campaigns. The current limits have not changed in more than two decades.

At a minimum, the board recommended the spending limit for gubernatorial candidates increase from just over $4 million to $5 million and increase the limit on House members from $41,160 to $60,000. Candidates for secretary of state and state auditor might see the biggest bump up to $1 million. Currently they are only permitted to spend $343,680 per election cycle.

While the board's proposal will outline potential increases, the members also discussed recommended even higher limits.

"I think even the increases you are suggesting here are too low," said board member Andy Lugar. "I don't think there's any magic number."

The board decided to suggest set limits but tell lawmakers they consider the increases a minimum, leaving it to the Legislature and the governor to further raise them.

Gov. Mark Dayton has already expressed interest in raising the limits for campaign spending.

The board decided to punt, for now, on whether to redefine who needs to register as a lobbyist and require more disclosure of economic interests from lawmakers. On both issues, members and Goldsmith said they already had a large package of proposals to pitch and they had not given changes sufficient examination.

But that doesn't mean some board members do not think the systems need changing or that lawmakers may not propose their own changes.

"I think that’s desperately needed in Minnesota," said Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley. He said he may introduce legislation to require lawmakers to report more about their money-making ventures. Right now, he said, a lawmaker could be doing consultant work for a lobbying group and no one would ever know.

Currently most states require far more information from their office holders about their income than Minnesota requires from it's leaders. A few years ago, the state received a failing grade for the quality of its disclosure.

"I don't think it discloses much of anything," said board member Neil Peterson. Peterson used have to fill out the disclosure forms as a Republican state House member and still does as a campaign finance board member.

 

 

 

 

Campaign finance board looking for cash

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: December 10, 2012 - 4:17 PM

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The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure board is cash-strapped and looking for ways out, according to a memo from its executive director.

Later this week, the board will discuss whether it should ask lawmakers and the governor for $1 million for each of the next fiscal years or whether to ask for a smaller amount but institute registration fees on lobbyists, candidates or political committees to make up the gap. While other states use fees, executive director Gary Goldsmith told board members in a memo that fees could result in a lawsuit no matter how they are set.

The board currently has a budget of $689,000, which Goldsmith said is the lowest level it has been since 2003.

With the current budget levels, “we have been able to carry on, but never to excel or improve,” Goldsmith said.

At the same time, the board has seen a “soaring number of complaints,” which it has a tough time investigating; received questionable campaign finance reports that it cannot investigate or audit; has no staff time to analyze the data it accumulates and offer treasurers less support and training than they need.

The board will meet on Wednesday to discuss its legislative recommendations in full.

Recounts over, state certifies House, Senate winners

Posted by: Jennifer Brooks Updated: December 4, 2012 - 4:53 PM

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The recounts are over the state has certified the winners in the last two disputed Legislative races in Minnesota.

Democrat Kevin L. Dahle won the state Senate District 20 election, the state canvassing board concluded Tuesday.  The board also certified that incumbent state Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, won reelection in state House District 8B.

Both races were decided by mere handfuls of votes. Dahle edged out Republican candidate Mike Dudley by 71 votes out of more than 41,000 cast. During the recount, Dudley picked up six more votes and Dahle lost one.

The final vote tally in Senate District 20 was 20,627 votes for Dahle and  20,556 for Dudley.

On election night, Franson led Democratic challenger Bob Cunniff by just one vote. She picked up 10 more after a judge ordered election officials to discard 35 ballots as a result of a polling place error. During the recount, Franson picked up two more votes and Cunniff picked up one.

The final vote in House District 8B was 10,642 votes for Franson and 10,630 for Cunniff.

Under Minnesota law, any election decided by a margin of less than one-half of one percent triggers a recount at taxpayer expense. Neither race affects the balance of power in the state Legislature. Democrats have won majorities in both houses.


 

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