Elections

Minneapolis City Council ratifies IRV rules

Filed under: Elections

The City Council voted today to approve rules governing instant runoff voting, the ballot-counting system that city voters overwhelmingly passed in 2006. The Council also asked city elections staff to put out a request for proposals from voting equipment vendors.

It's still anyone's guess whether IRV will be in place by 2009, given the challenges in getting federally-approved machines lined up quickly. The Council didn't address whether they'll have to push IRV back to 2013, a move that would be unpopular with advocates of instant runoffs.

"We're moving forward toward the 2009 implementation date," said Cynthia Reichert, the city's election director, after the rules had passed. However, she added, "Council has the authority to make a determination that we may not be ready."

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at April 17, 2008 1:37 PM | Comments (0)

 

Voting problems in Ohio

Filed under: Elections

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Franklin County's phone system crashed this morning because it was overwhelmed with calls from voters and poll workers about how and where to vote in Ohio.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 7, 2006 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

 

Despite the support of the GOP, golfers and God, a judicial candidate flops

Filed under: Elections

Last year, when the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Minnesota's strict restrictions on judicial campaigning--thereby opening the floodgates for political parties to jump into the fray--there was a flood of dire predictions about the consequences for our judiciary. And why not? In states with similarly relaxed rules regarding fundraising and partisan endorsements, judicial campaigns have become ugly, money-grubbing, TV driven affairs; in other words, they are essentially indistinguishable from garden variety slime fests that define the modern American political contest.

So it comes as something of a surprise that Minnesota's first foray into this new world has proved so milquetoast. Case in point: the three-way race for a judge's seat in the ninth judicial district, which covers 17 counties in northwest Minnesota. Just one of the three candidates, a magistrate named Tim Tingelstad (whose Jesus-centric campaign motto was "Justice is served when judges fear God and love the people") received a party endorsement. That came courtesy of the ninth district Republicans.

And what did it net him? A third place finish, in which he was soundly trounced by both the incumbent Terrance Holter (the top vote getter) and Holter's former clerk, John Melbye. Tingelstad's flop was hardly the result of a lack of effort. He was the only candidate to appear at the Republican forum, the only one to appear at an ACLU forum, and one of just two to address the Chamber of Commerce.

Reached by telephone, Tingelstad was something at a loss to explain his defeat. However, he does venture one likely theory: money, or more properly, the lack of it. In the sprawling district--which takes 5 hours to traverse by car--the business of buying airtime, printing signs, door knocking and mailing leaflets is both time consuming and expensive. Tingelstad figures he spent in the neighborhood of $4,000; challenger John Melbye, by contrast, shelled out close to $25,000 and quit his day job.

Still, Tingelstad has no regrets about the campaign, or his decision to be so forthright about his religious views. "If we don't start acknowledging the sovereignty of God in our courts and schools and public institutions, we have strayed off the foundation upon which the founding fathers built our government," he offers. "I like to talk about the whole concept of absolute truth."

Whether ninth district voters disagreed with that--or were simply unaware of Tingelstad's views--the strategy did not serve him well. And after losing his second consecutive bid for a seat on the bench (he was trounced two years ago by Supreme Court Justice and former Minnesota Viking Alan Page), Tingelstad is unsure whether he'll take another stab.

One passion he will continue to pursue: Golf. In the ranks of the Minnesota judiciary, Tingelstad is almost certainly the only candidate to hold a patent on a golf club, an adjustable putter he dubbed "the Way." That name, you won't be shocked to learn, is Biblical in origin. "I used the passage from John where Jesus says 'I am the way, the truth and the light and no one can come to the father except through me,'" Tingelstad explains "It's a witnessing tool, but also a fun way to meet people."

Bottom line: Should he venture another campaign, maybe Tingelstad would be better advised to spend more time on the links and less with the party faithful.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at September 15, 2006 2:03 PM | Comments (10)

 

Pawlenty: Plugged in to power company cash

Filed under: Elections

When Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that he would eschew public financing for his re-election campaign--thereby avoiding those pesky spending limits--he sent a clear signal to all Minnesotans: Gird yourself for another collosal TV ad season. The decision also served to underscore Pawlenty's confidence that he will crush Attorney General Mike Hatch in the race for dollars. So far, that confidence appears to be well-placed. Pawlenty currently has twice the cash on hand as his DFL rival.

One explanation for this is Pawlenty's popularity within the business community--and Hatch's corresponding unpopularity within the same. In some sectors of the economy, in fact, Pawlenty seems to have developed an absolute deadlock on support. Case in point: the utility business.

According to filings with the Campaign Financing and Lobbying Board, Pawlenty has raised $14,350 from 19 employees of Xcel Energy, the state's largest power provider. How much did Xcel employees shell out in support of Hatch? That would be the easily tallied sum of zero dollars. (Hatch also received no contributions from employees of Great River Energy, the state's second largest power provider, or Allete, the third largest).

That Xcel folk don't seem to care for Hatch is understandable in light of the acrimonious history between the utility and the AG. Over the past few years, Hatch has accused Xcel of pocketing tax breaks that should have gone to consumers, opposed rate hikes and, in the wake of widespread storm-related power outages, called for the creation of quality service standards. This is how they thank him.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at September 8, 2006 10:25 AM | Comments (2)

 

Is it a whiter shade of green--or a vegan sausage party?

Filed under: Elections

After the Green Party of Minnesota held its convention in Duluth last weekend, three candidates for statewide office walked away with endorsements: Ken Pentel (the veteran Green organizer now making his third bid for the governor's office), Michael Cavlan (a registered nurse running for U.S. Senate) and "Papa" John Kolstad (a West Bank musician who wants to be Attorney General). Aside from their membership in the Green Party, the three have one thing in common: they are all white men.

For party stalwarts like Dave Berger, that was cause for some concern. "It weighed on me a little bit," acknowledges Berger, who was the Greens' biggest vote getter back in 2002, when he mounted an unsuccessful but well-regarded campaign for state auditor. "I thought, if all these white guys are stepping forward to run for statewide office, do we really need another white guy?"

Berger, a sociology professor at Inver Hills Community College, was concerned enough about the demographic imbalance on the ticket (as well as the toll of running a campaign on his family life) that he told fellow Greens just before the convention that he was scuttling his bid for the state auditor's office.

But after endorsements were made (and no Green leapt into the auditor's race), Berger reconsidered and beseeched the party's executive committee to support his candidacy. In all likelihood, this means Berger will, once again, wind up with the Green endorsement. And while that will do nothing to rectify the gender and racial imbalance at the top of the ticket, his candidacy could still boost the Greens' lagging fortunes. That will be especially true if he manages to garner at least 5 percent of the vote, thereby giving the Greens something they've been missing since 2002: major party status.

In fact, the five percent threshold has been met only once by a Green in a statewide election held in Minnesota--during Ralph Nader's presidential bid in 2000. For a copule of reasons, Berger is probably the party's best hope to hit the threshold again this year: one, he is running for an office voters are probaly more inclined to "throw away" a vote on a third party candidate; two, he can tap into the disenchantment among liberals with DFL's endorsed candidate for state auditor, Rebecca Otto, who is vulnerable because of her past support for an anti-gay marriage amendment. "No matter how you look at it, she is not a progressive," Berger says of his opponent. "She's got serious baggage."

That said, like many Greens, Berger doesn't think reaching the 5 percent goal in a statewide race is as important as actually winning in local races. And in the local races, Berger points out, the Greens are fielding a more diverse slate of candidates than at the top-of-the-ticket. Some of the local race candidates--especially candidates like Farheen Hakeem--have a much better chance at victory since they are running in districts that are considerably more liberal than the state as a whole.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 7, 2006 6:15 PM | Comments (6)

 

Minnesota by the numbers: A purple poll

Filed under: Elections

This is odd. According to the latest Survey USA round-up, George Bush has a higher approval rating in Minnesota than in any other "blue" state. In other words, the president is more highly regarded in Minnesota than in any of the 17 other states that voted Kerry in 2004. Of course, that's not saying much.

As of February 13, according to the poll, just 40 percent of Minnesotans approved of the job W is doing, 56 percent disapproved, and four percent remained "undecided" (translation: four percent of Minnesotans don't even pretend to give a crap about world affairs).

Bush's Minnesota numbers are almost identical to his national numbers (40 percent approval, 57 percent disapproval, 3 percent undecided). Curiously, his positive rating in Minnesota is actually higher than it is in four states which Bush won in 2004--Missouri, Colorado, Iowa and Ohio. But for the president's supporters, the most alarming aspect of the survey must be this one: he broke the 50 percent approval mark in just six states.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at February 20, 2006 2:19 PM | Comments (4)

 

Wonders of the internet: First we shame the hookers, then the politicians

Filed under: Elections

Since 1997, the St. Paul Police Department has been posting on the internet the names and pictures of people who have been arrested on prostitution charges. From the outset, this exercise in public humiliation has been questioned on grounds of both morality and utility. Granted, some john from Maplewood might cringe at the prospect of his unflattering mugshot ricocheting around cyberspace, where, God forbid, his in-laws might catch a glimpse of his hidden life. But for the drug addicted streetwalker from Frogtown--more victim than criminal, don't you think?--this practice seems like little more than a nasty bit of piling on.

These days, however, the government's use of the internet for purposes of shaming targets into doing "the right thing" is not restricted to hookers and johns. Increasingly, politicians are finding their names posted by other government agencies with whom they have run afoul.

For the past several years, for instance, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board has devoted a webpage to outing political candidates who have failed to submit their required fundraising and expenditure paperwork. The board's most recent report--updated February 9--lists some 118 candidates for public office in Minnesota who missed their January 3 deadline for the 2005 election cycle.

So who are these law-flouting slackers? There are a few familiar names among the bunch (including State Senator John Hottinger, perennial gadfly/judicial activist Greg Wersal). But mostly the list consists of a slew of failed, fringe candidates. The breakdown by party affiliation: 58 Republicans, 42 DFLers, 13 Independence Party folk, three Greens and two "others."

Under Minnesota campaign law, violators face a five dollar fine for each day--following formal notification--after which they fail to file. In cases of chronic non-compliance, a candidate may be penalized as much as thousand dollars.

"We're just trying to entice them to file their reports," explains Jeanne Olson, the executive director of the campaign board. But, says Olson, the current level of non-compliance seems to be fairly typical. Which begs the question: Is it time to start running candidates' mugshots, too? You know, just like they do with the hookers.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at February 9, 2006 3:27 PM | Comments (0)

 

Friends like these

Filed under: Elections

Close observers may have noticed a few unlikely faces squeezing on to the podium with Chris Coleman on Tuesday night at the St. Paul Hotel. City council members Debbie Montgomery and Dan Bostrom, both of whom endorsed incumbent Randy Kelly, shamelessly positioned themselves by the mayor-elect's side as he gave his victory speech. The hasty swapping of political teams wasn't appreciated by some Coleman partisans. "Getting up on the stage, as if your hard work got you to that point, was difficult for me I have to say," notes one close supporter.

Posted by Paul Demko at November 11, 2005 12:11 PM | Comments (1)

 

David Hauser's world of pain

Filed under: Elections

According to the archives of the Minneapolis Issues List web forum, David Hauser, the son of 8th Ward Minneapolis City Council candidate Marie Hauser, unleashed his ominous-sounding screed upon Hauser's opponent, Elizabeth Glidden, at exactly 10:55:42 p.m. last night, less than two hours after media reports were calling Glidden the victor.

"I think the only thing scaring Elizabeth Glidden more than my mother tonight was the possibility that she might actually win the 8th ward city council election," Hauser wrote. "Congratulations, you just inherited your worst nightmare, Elizabeth. Personal Responsibility. Just to make sure you are walking that line, I will be with you for four years. I hope [Mayor R.T.] Rybak's political shield extends past the elections, because the 8th ward is a hard place to live, a hard place to grow up and a hard place to govern.
"Are you up to the challenge?
"I am. Welcome to my world. Of pain."

Then, beneath his signature, David Hauser took a parting shot at park board reformer Chris Johnson, who had, it must be said, launched many a nasty attack against his mother and the rest of the park board majority. (Marie Hauser's bid for city council prevented her for running for reelection on the park board.)

"P.S. Chris Johnson- You suck," David Hauser wrote. "Spend another four years attacking your digestive tract with bile so you die soon. Please. Kthx."

That wasn't Hauser's final salvo of the night, but we'll spare you the less lurid details of subsequent posts he made before briefly nodding off for some much-needed wisdom sleep. It is likely that he awoke with the aching realization that he had some atoning to do, for at ten seconds after 6:25 this morning, under the heading "Apologies," he wrote that his previous posts "were very inappropriate, I hope you can forgive me."

Welcome to David Hauser's world. It does look pretty painful.

Posted by Britt Robson at November 9, 2005 5:17 PM | Comments (2)