A Molnau timeline

Last update: February 28, 2008 - 9:30 PM

The course of Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau's recent political career :

January 2002: House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty, running for governor, selects Molnau as his running mate. She is a five-term state representative from Chaska and chairman of the House Transportation Finance Committee.

November 2002: The Republican ticket of Pawlenty and Molnau is elected.

January 2003: Molnau takes office and also is named state transportation commissioner, the first time a Minnesota lieutenant governor also serves as a Cabinet member.

November 2003: Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, says he believes highway projects have become too "politicized" under the Pawlenty administration and tells Molnau that her confirmation as head of the agency is in jeopardy. Molnau denies that politics plays into project selection.

March 2004: On an 8-7 party-line vote, the Transportation Committee recommends that Molnau not be approved as commissioner. DFLers fault her opposition to a gas-tax increase and to Northstar commuter rail, say she is following partisan policies and claim she is not an adequate advocate for transportation. She says the vote is political, and supporters, including the governor, applaud her record.

May 2004: On a 38-28 vote, the Senate confirms Molnau's appointment as transportation commissioner. The action comes in the post-midnight closing hours of the session, on the same day the Senate votes not to confirm Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke.

November 2006: Pawlenty and Molnau are reelected. She remains transportation commissioner but is subject to a possible new confirmation vote.

August 2007: The Interstate 35W bridge collapses in Minneapolis, killing 13 people and injuring 115. The collapse is viewed as a symbol of problems with Minnesota's transportation infrastructure, and Molnau faces intensified criticism. Pawlenty says she is doing a good job.

February 2008: Senate votes 44-22 not to confirm Molnau and she is ousted as transportation commissioner. All votes not to confirm are from DFLers; all votes to confirm are from Republicans.

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