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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 National campaigns

Same-sex marriage advocates will bring fight to Legislature

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: December 1, 2012 - 3:53 PM

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Minnesotans who want to legalize same-sex marriage gathered Saturday to harness momentum from their election victory and begin their push for marriage equality in the Legislature.

“We believe we can pass marriage equality this session,” said Bee Rongitsch, an organizer for Minnesotans United for All Families, the lead group that defeated a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

More than 500 people gathered in downtown Minneapolis for a daylong summit focusing on equality and justice for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered. Along with plotting the next steps in the marriage fight, the event included seminars organizing regional leaders in the movement, panels on youth homelessness and a discussion about how the campaign has engaged communities of religious faith.

Same-sex marriage opponents say the other side is misinterpreting the election.

“Most legislators understand that the election was not an endorsement of gay marriage,” said Chuck Darrell, spokesman for Minnesota for Marriage, the group that pushed the state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

He noted that many DFL legislators come from districts where voters supported the marriage amendment, which will cause them to be reluctant to push for same-sex marriage. “No matter what happens, we will work to defeat efforts to redefine marriage.”

Summit organizers plan to utilize the unprecedented campaign infrastructure that defeated the marriage amendment to put heat on legislators to pass same-sex marriage, which remains illegal in the state.

This is bound to create tension at the Capitol. Despite wide-ranging wins, the new DFL-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton don’t appear eager to push too hard on social issues that could blow their new majorities. Many political watchers say political overreach doomed Republicans over the past two years.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, has said the election was not a mandate for legislators to legalize same-sex marriage. Most DFLers focused their campaigns squarely on the budget and the economy, not the marriage issue.
At the summit, organizers passed around a detailed election spreadsheet showing districts where amendment opposition was strongest and connected it to the results of the winning legislative candidate.

While amendment opposition generally was strongest in DFL strongholds, the data showed several areas where Republicans triumphed and amendment opposition was strong.

In a Chanhassen district, 58 percent of voters rejected the amendment, but elected Tea Party favorite Cindy Pugh to the Minnesota House.

Those legislators are likely to face some of the strongest, most organized pressure to vote for a measure legalizing same-sex marriage, organizers said.

Same-sex marriage supporters in the Legislature said they expect wrenching conversations about the issue, both with advocates and legislative leaders trying to balance delicate re-election strategies.

“That’s the conversation we are going to have, certainly for months and perhaps for years,” said state Rep. Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis.

But Davnie said he hopes legislators look at recent election victories that legalized same-sex marriage in Maine, Maryland and Washington to show “the arc of history” tilting their way.

Organizers warned that strong Democratic election wins shouldn’t cause activists to relent, or feel confident that same-sex marriage is on the immediate horizon.

“We cannot believe we are insiders,” said Beth Zemsky, an organizer with OutFront Minnesota, an organization promoting marriage equality. “Once we believe we are inside, we let up the pressure.”

Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United, said they will continue their statewide dialog about why loving and committed gay and lesbian couples want to marry.

“The conversation didn’t end on election night, this conversation is going to continue,” he said.
 

White House says “fiscal cliff” could cost Minnesota 1.3 points of GDP

Posted by: Kevin Diaz Updated: November 28, 2012 - 9:32 PM

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A new analysis by President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) concludes that going over the “fiscal cliff” could slow the growth of real GDP in Minnesota by 1.3 percentage points if current tax cuts expire for the middle class.

The state-by-state analyses were released by the White House Wednesday as part of Obama’s nationwide campaign to win public support for his plan to raise taxes on income above $250,000.

The report suggests that consumers in Minnesota could spend nearly $3.6 billion less than they otherwise would in 2013 just because of higher taxes.  A critical part of the economy that might be squeezed is retail, a sector that employs 278,700 people in the state.

A typical Minnesota family of four (earning $86,000) could see its income taxes rise by $2,200. But the White House says that the 98 percent of Minnesota families who make less than $250,000 a year and would not see an income tax increase under the president’s plan.

Minneapolis, St. Paul get high ratings from GLBT group

Posted by: Baird Helgeson Updated: November 28, 2012 - 11:47 AM

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Minneapolis and St. Paul ranked high in a new rating of how inclusive city governments are for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.

Out of a possible 100 points, Minneapolis scored 91 points and St. Paul earned a 67 as part of a first-ever Municipal Equality Index by The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization for gay and lesbians.

The cities were ranked in areas like non-discrimination laws, equal employee benefits and inclusiveness in city services. Read the report here.

“Minnesota’s municipalities have been leading the way forward toward fuller LGBT equality for the past several years,” OutFront Minnesota legal director Phil Duran said.

Doran said his group has worked with 18 communities to pass domestic-partner registration ordinances and has worked with Twin Cities leaders to cement gender identity categories in their discrimination ordinances.

“This local leadership will help move our Legislature forward as well, particularly as these local leaders get elected to higher office,” he said.

Minneapolis and St. Paul were the only two Minnesota cities ranked by the group. The Human Rights Campaign reviewed 137 cities and state capitals as part of the study. Cities like San Francisco, Boston and New York received ratings of 100. Montgomery, Ala; Frankfurt, Ky; and Jefferson City, Mo, each got scores of zero.

Minnesota voters just defeated a proposed amendment that would have changed the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, which would have strengthened an existing law preventing gay and lesbian couples from marrying.

Minnesota same-sex marriage advocates are now trying to plot their next step, which could include pushing for a law change in the Legislature or pressing for a statewide vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

Some legislators, including several who opposed the marriage amendment, are leery of pushing too soon for same-sex marriage and touching off another divisive fight over social issues.

“In Minnesota, there are 515 state laws that discriminate against same-sex couples and their families,” said Ann Kaner-Roth, Executive Director of Project 515, a statewide advocacy organization that works towards equal rights and considerations under the law for same-sex couples. “Ultimately this local leadership will provide guidance at the state level and we look forward to continuing to strive for inclusive policies for the state as a whole.”
 

Democrats' bitter election calculus over Bachmann

Posted by: Kevin Diaz Updated: November 7, 2012 - 10:16 AM

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On the way to raising $23 million, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has long pleaded for help from donors by portraying herself as one of Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s top targets in Congress.
 
Democrats in Washington now must be saying, “If only.”
 
The Minnesota Republican suffered a razor-thin re-election scare late Tuesday night, but emerged victorious Wednesday morning by a 4,207-vote margin over DFL challenger Jim Graves. That’s a difference of slightly more than 1 percentage point, putting her safely out of automatic recount range (The Minnesota threshold is 0.5 percent).
 
Graves called Bachmann around 10 a.m. Wednesday to concede the race.
 
Democrats have got to be feeling good about the 2012 election in general. But when it comes to Bachmann, this might have been a missed opportunity for the national party, which touted Graves for months but hardly spent a dime to help him.
 
A look at outside expenditures in the race shows a total of $163,496, according to the Sunlight Foundation. That’s a pretty modest sum considering Bachmann’s stature as a national Tea Party figure. The biggest players were the National Republican Trust PAC, on the right ($72K), and the CREDO Super-PAC on the left ($37K).
 
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm of the House Democrats, apparently passed on this battle, at least money-wise. Perhaps they felt twice-burned in previous Bachmann reelection efforts.
 
But considering Bachmann’s ten-to-one fundraising advantage over Graves, who turned out to be the best candidate Bachmann has faced to date, the Pelosi forces must be wondering if they missed their best chance ever.

Amid increased Obama activity in Minnesota, campaign says Romney just pretending it's winnable

Posted by: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger Updated: October 29, 2012 - 10:56 AM

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Although the Obama campaign is sending former President Clinton to Minnesota and has started running ads in the state, key Obama staffers said Monday morning Republican Mitt Romney's momentum in Minnesota is "pretend."

"The Romney campaign wants you to think it’s expanding the map but it’s not," said Jim Messina, President Barack Obama's campaign manager. "Romney is pretending he’s got a shot in state’s like in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. We expect the Romney campaign to visit an out of play state this week to pretend like they have some momentum there."

A Star Tribune Minnesota Poll over the weekend found Obama with 3 percentage point lead over Romney, predicting a far tighter race than both campaigns appear to have assumed. 

Obama campaign senior advisor David Axelrod said the Obama campaign is running ads in Minnesota because the Romney campaign began advertising in the state. 

"We are not going to surrender any territory," he said on a conference call with reporters.

Republicans see evidence that the Democrats are clearly scared Minnesota is on the verge of slipping away from them.

"No matter how you slice it, President Obama’s map is shrinking while Governor Romney’s momentum and plan for a real economic recovery is forcing the president’s campaign to spend critical campaign cash to defend states they once thought were safe,"  said Ryan Mahoney, Regional Press Secretary for the Republican National Committee in an email to reporters over the weekend.

 

 

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