MNGOP RELEASES NEW TRACKER T-SHIRTS
September 6, 2010 10:21 PM
by Luke Hellier | 11 Comments »
EMMER BUDGET PLAN PART 1
September 6, 2010 1:35 PM
Per Release
Tom Emmer, the Republican nominee for governor, today announced the first part of his state budget plan: his agenda for creating jobs and revitalizing Minnesota’s economy.
“On this holiday dedicated to working people, too many Minnesotans are out of work. On this Labor Day, too many Minnesotans are fearful about their jobs,” said Emmer. “We need policies which will make Minnesota once again a place where jobs flourish and where business people want to make investments for future growth.”
At Permac Industries, which manufactures precision parts for customers worldwide in Burnsville, Emmer announced a sweeping plan to lower government obstacles to job growth and to allow Minnesota to improve its competitiveness not only among other states but in the global marketplace.
“Minnesota has an extraordinary history of entrepreneurial innovation and business success. But continued economic success has been hampered by the high costs, regulatory impediments, and indifference of state government,” said Emmer. “Unfortunately state taxes and regulations discourage many businesses from expanding here or starting a new business in the first place.”
by Luke Hellier | 24 Comments »
GAS UP AIR FORCE ONE, OBAMA IS COMING TO MN FOR DAYTON
September 5, 2010 3:49 PM
President Barack Obama to the rescue. President Obama plans to help America’s Worst Senator to become America’s worst Governor.
Just ask Martha Coakley how that worked out.
From the Star Tribune:
President Barack Obama has a Minnesota visit on his docket.
From the New York Times:
“President Obama is adding more fund-raisers to his schedule, traveling to Florida and Minnesota over the next six weeks….”
DFL candidate for governor Mark Dayton said the week the won the party primary that he had asked both the president and Vice President Joe Biden to visit the state to help him raise money.
The president, who stopped in Minnesota often during his 2008 campaign, was in the state one year ago to push for health care overhaul.
by Luke Hellier | 15 Comments »
EMMER BUDGET PLAN TO LAND TOMORROW
September 5, 2010 3:33 PM
According to AP’s Brian Bakst, Part one of Tom Emmer’s budget plan will be released tomorrow. Stay tuned to MDE for more details.
UPDATE:
More details on the first release:
Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer will announce the first part of his budget plan, Tom Emmer’s Jobs Agenda, Monday, September 6th at Permac Industries in Burnsville.
Emmer has said that job creation will be his highest priority if he is elected the state’s next governor. Therefore, job creation deserves the focus of the first of his three announcements for a state government budget plan.
The second and third announcements will be made over the next two weeks.
What
Emmer Releases Budget Plan, Part 1: Jobs Agenda
Who
Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Emmer
Lieutenant Governor Candidate Annette Meeks
Darlene Miller, President & CEO, Permac Industries
Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem
House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers
Senator Amy Koch
Representative Matt Dean
Area Business Leaders
When
Monday, September 4, 2010
1:00 p.m.
Where
Permac Industries
14401 Ewing Avenue South
Burnsville, MN 55306-4889
by Luke Hellier | 15 Comments »
STAY CLASSY JOE FRICKE
September 5, 2010 3:26 PM
Joe Fricke is the DFL endorsed candidate for State Senate in district 28.
The seat is currently held by DFL Senator Steve Murphy who is retiring. This seat is a hotly contested race but Red Wing Mayor John Howe is posied to win.
In January, Smart Politics wrote this about the race:
Even with an incumbency advantage, Senator Murphy himself had to struggle with fairly competitive matchups in his successful bids for 4th and 5th terms. Murphy won by just 4.9 points over Gary Iocco in 2002 and by 9.0 points over eventual GOP HD 28B Representative Steve Drazkowski during the first Democratic tsunami year of 2006.
Moreover, Republicans have consistently fared much better in the 28th than they have statewide across all offices. Read more.
But the DFL candidate has an uphill battle. Meet Joe Fricke, the DFL candidate. Below is a picture of Joe from Facebook earlier this year:
Classy. The uncensored version is below the jump.
by Luke Hellier | 3 Comments »
BACHMANN LAUNCHES iPHONE APP
September 3, 2010 3:32 PM
Woodbury, MN– With the campaign season in full swing, Bachmann for Congress is pleased to announce the launch of the “Bachmann for Congress” Iphone Application. Offering an innovative blend of dynamically updated content and social media with the ability to sign up campaign volunteers and collect mobile contributions, the app extends the campaign’s reach by converting supporters into well-equipped field workers.
“This application will help us reach the people of the 6th District right where they are, at a time and place most convenient for them” saidolitical Advisor Andy Parrish.
The app is available now for free download from the iTunes App Store.
Bachmann For Congress offers users an easy way to sign up for the campaign’s mailing and volunteer list, share the campaign and the app with friends through the supporter’s social media channels, and collect contributions right from the iPhone. Users can easily access the latest news and events for the campaign, and use audio and video clips to help get others excited about Michele’s campaign.
The application is designed with a web-based back end that allows immediate updates of dynamic content. The Home Screen also has rotating “banners” that allow the campaign to highlight events and provide rapid response to fast-breaking news. Each banner links to yet another dynamic view so the campaign can provide details to support the broad banner messages.
Key features of Bachmann for Congress include:
- Integrated campaign NewsFeed offering a combined view of all campaign messaging including: Emails, Blog posts, Facebook, Twitter, and even Text Messages.
- Mobile-optimized access to the campaign YouTube channel allowing supporters to search videos by title, tags, or topics. The feature also includes re-share functions encouraging supporters to post campaign videos directly into Facebook, Twitter, or include them via email to all your friends and contacts!
- Sharing capability that uses the supporter’s Facebook, Twitter, Email and text messages to rapidly spread campaign info, and allows the campaign to dynamically pre-configure the message that is posted.
- Dynamic home screen views that can be changed on-demand by the campaign, providing rapid response to fast-breaking news, take action, campaign updates and events, or links to additional online information.
- Using push notifications, the campaign can alert users – even when the app isn’t open.
To download the application, visit http://appsto.re/bachmann
by Luke Hellier | 13 Comments »
IF RITCHIE HOLDS A RALLY AT THE FAIR WILL ANYONE KNOW?
September 2, 2010 10:52 PM
Apparently not…
Today Mark Ritchie held a rally at the AFL-CIO booth at the State Fair to about a crowd of 10 people.
Photos by Paul Carlson
by Luke Hellier | 25 Comments »
UPDATED: BACHMANN’S SECOND AD
September 2, 2010 10:32 PM
Note: This is the edited commercial
by Luke Hellier | 48 Comments »
SENATOR DAYTON, RELEASE YOUR RECORDS
September 1, 2010 11:12 PM
In the last few days, Senator Mark Dayton has admitted that he misspoke about the status of his public divorce files and was willing to release this teacher’s license for the State of New York.
So why won’t he release the two missing documents noted in this file?
If you click here you can read the entire public divorce record sans the two files that were taken out by Dayton’s ex-wife in consultation with Dayton’s attorney.
Senator Dayton, it’s time to make the public records whole again and return all the public documents that were removed.
by Luke Hellier | 53 Comments »
DAILY DOWNLOAD 9/1/10
September 1, 2010 5:34 PM
Vanity Fair does another profile of Sarah Palin
Tom Emmer had a media blitz at the State Fair today.
When will Mark Dayton release his full public records?
MPR Poll: 51% of Minnesotan’s do not approve of Union involvement in elections
Scheck says there are 4 DFLers in line for Majority Leader, if they keep the majority, in the next session.
Erik Paulsen’s race has dropped out of the Top 100 in CNN rankings
Wash Po’s Fix Blog profiles MN Gov race
by Luke Hellier | Sound the Alarm! »
FRANKEN LOSES HIS TEMPER ON KFAN
August 31, 2010 11:52 PM
This is a segment that Al Franken had today on KFAN with talk show host Dan Barriero.
Listen here
The entire time after the segment, Barriero was in shock over Franken’s actions.
by Luke Hellier | 28 Comments »
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT DAYTON RECORDS PART 2
August 31, 2010 11:41 PM
Earlier today I posted on MDE about what we know about Mark Dayton’s public records. A key point is the following:
2. At yesterday’s press conference Dayton was asked about the records and he said they were sealed when the records show they were unsealed in April 2000.
2a. Update: I received the following update from Dayton’s spokeswoman about Dayton’s comments:
Mark hadn’t looked at his divorce papers in 10 years, and had forgotten they are no longer sealed. The court documents showing everything is unsealed are correct.
Thanks,
Katie
What’s key is that Dayton and his campaign now agree that the records are unsealed. So when will Mark Dayton release the full public record including the two missing sworn statements from his ex-wife?
by Luke Hellier | 7 Comments »
BACHMANN CAMPAIGN RESPONDS TO LOGO ISSUE
August 31, 2010 11:37 PM
Per release:
Woodbury, MN- Earlier today Bachmann for Congress released a television advertisement coinciding with the Minnesota State Fair. While our attorneys advise us we have a legal right to use the State Fair logo, Bachmann for Congress has decided to swap it for a more generic icon.
Political advisor, Andy Parrish stated: ”The focus of our advertisement is Taxin’ Tarryl’s record and not the logo of the State Fair. Congresswoman Bachmann has been a life long fan of the Minnesota State Fair, and out of good faith will be swapping out parts of the advertisement. There is no logo big enough to hide Tarryl Clark’s continuous support for higher taxes. Congresswoman Bachmann encourages all State Fair attendees to ask Clark about her votes to raise taxes on gas, prepared foods… and even your beer.”
by Luke Hellier | 3 Comments »
BLOG: NYC SCHOOLS HAVE “NO RECORDS” ABOUT MARK DAYTON
August 31, 2010 6:39 PM
Shelia Kihne at The Activist Next Door filed a request for public files about Mark Dayton’s time as a New York public school teacher. Here’s where the story gets interesting: NYC doesn’t have any records about Dayton.
Please stay tuned to MinnesotaDemocratsExposed.com as more information becomes available.
by Luke Hellier | 3 Comments »
UPDATE ON DAYTON PUBLIC RECORDS
August 31, 2010 10:16 AM
What we know about Mark Dayton’s public records:
1. The records were done with Dayton’s ex-wife’s attorney but in consultation with Dayton’s attorney.
2. At yesterday’s press conference Dayton was asked about the records and he said they were sealed when the records show they were unsealed in April 2000.
2a. Update: I received the following update from Dayton’s spokeswoman about Dayton’s comments:
Mark hadn’t looked at his divorce papers in 10 years, and had forgotten they are no longer sealed. The court documents showing everything is unsealed are correct.
Thanks,
Katie
3. Common sense says that Dayton can still release his full public records to ensure full vetting for the election.
Check back with MDE for more on this story later today.
by Luke Hellier | 36 Comments »
MPR POLL SHOWS DEAD HEAT IN GOVERNOR’S RACE
August 31, 2010 6:43 AM
Tom Emmer 34%
Mark Dayton 34%
Tom Horner 13%
Read more here
by Luke Hellier | 22 Comments »
KEY MN STATE HOUSE RACES
August 30, 2010 11:01 PM
Just like with the Senate Races, below are races on both sides of the aisle that many believe are not in play. I will still be looking through the races.
But here are the nominees:
Larry Hosch – 14B
Dave Olin – 1A
Larry Haws – 15B (open)
Andy Welti – 30B
David Bly – 25B
Laura Brod – 25A (open)
Tony Sertich – 5B
Marty Seifert – 21A (open)
Tom Emmer – 19B (open)
Paul Kohls – 34A (open)
Dan Severson – 14A (open)
Rob Eastlund – 17A (open)
Jeremy Kalin – 17B (open)
Paul Rosenthal – 41B
Ann Lenczewsk – 40B
Paul Gardner – 53A
Julie Bunn – 56A
Marsha Swalis – 56B
Al Doty – 12B
Mary Ellen Otremba – 11B (open)
Terry Morrow – 23A
Kory Kath – 26A
Nathan Hansen – 55A
Will Morgan – 40A
Mike Obermuller – 38B
Karla Bigham – 57A (open)
Please feel free to send more nominations by the end of the week.
by Luke Hellier | 2 Comments »
MINNPOST ON DAYTON’S RECORDS
August 30, 2010 1:53 PM
Doug Grow from MinnPost.com reported on today’s press conference:
This morning’s news conference took a sharp turn, however, when Luke Hellier, who runs a conservative website Minnesota Democrats Exposed, started asking Dayton about his divorce records a decade ago from Janice Haarstick, his second wife. Earlier, he and his first wife, Alida Rockefeller Messinger, had divorced.
On his website and in repeated questions to Dayton this morning, Hellier claimed that two statements from Dayton’s former wife have been removed from the public record and should be made available to the public.
When Hellier brought up the subject this morning, Dayton looked at him and shook his head.
“You know, when Rudy did this in 1990, Minnesotans revulsed,” Dayton said to Hellier.
(The reference was to Gov. Rudy Perpich urging the media to look at Grunseth’s divorce records in the 1990 campaign. Ultimately, Grunseth was shown to have bigger social issues than a messy divorce and, at the last minute, withdrew from the race. He was replaced by Arne Carlson, who went on to defeat Perpich. Many believed that Perpich came across looking both sleazy and desperate in waving Grunseth’s divorce papers and that the action may have cost him the election.)
by Luke Hellier | 10 Comments »
DAYTON LIES ABOUT PUBLIC RECORDS
August 30, 2010 1:21 PM
Following up an earlier post on Mark Dayton’s public records, I attended Dayton’s press conference in Saint Paul today. At the press conference Dayton actually lied about the documents saying they were sealed but they are actually unsealed.
Here is the transcript:
(8:27) Hellier: Senator Dayton, ah, one week before you announced you were running for US Senate, your attorney removed public documents from your divorce file in Goodhue county, what was in those documents that were filed, and will you instruct your attorney to return them to the public file?
Dayton: Th..The judge sealed the documents. And… you know… ahh… when Rudy Perpich (Said/did?) this in 1990 (folks?) were repulsed. Ahh.. I think the good judgement of Minnesotans 20 years later should be the same.
Editor’s note: Actually the documents were unsealed at this time and the two documents from Haarstick were removed. You can see the document for yourself here.
Kessler: Will.. Will you? Ahh, I don’t understand what you just said. This? What do you mean, this?
Dayton: Going and asking for sealed divorce records that were sealed before I made ran in 2000, even in 2000 when it was a current issue people had the decency and the good judgement not to raise that kind of issue. I just, I just think its way out of bounds to in terms of what people care about in this election.
(10:56) Hellier: Respectfully, Sen. Dayton I have actually the petition from the county and it says here on the 7th of April 2000 the file is no longer sealed and shall be open for public inspection without restriction and you had said to the Star Tribune at that time that you were open to have your records looked at but these two specific files were taken from the court and given to your attorney before it was unsealed so that was the documents I was referring to.
Dayton: (looks around awkwardly, gestures arm) anything else? (takes another question 11:24)
___
Check back for more from MDE on this developing story.
by Luke Hellier | 5 Comments »
THE MISSING PUBLIC RECORDS FROM MARK DAYTON’S DIVORCE
August 30, 2010 6:29 AM
Candidates that are looking to hold a position such as Governor should be fully vetted before the election so the public knows who they are voting for.
In this race specifically, the Star Tribune has spent considerable time and resources looking into personal court documents related to Tom Emmer, and we have yet to see the same on Mark Dayton.
As a member of the public I have been committed to exploring Dayton’s past for the benefit of the voters. Much of this research consists of Dayton’s votes in the Senate, public statements, and news articles about the former Senator.
This is common practice in many elections. In 2004 Jack Ryan was running against Barack Obama for US Senate in Illinois.
Brendan Koerner wrote in Slate:
Records from the 1999 divorce of Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan were unsealed Monday, and the revelations contained therein are spooking some of his supporters. The documents contain allegations from his ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan, that her then-husband had a predilection for taking her to raunchy sex clubs. Both Ryans opposed the unsealing of the divorce records. Why was the court permitted to overrule their wishes?
Because the First Amendment rights of media organizations generally supercede the privacy rights of litigants, since the American legal system favors transparency in all court proceedings. In the Ryan case, the Chicago Tribune and a Chicago TV station sued in Los Angeles (where the divorce proceedings took place) to unseal the records. In keeping with prior rulings nationwide, the court concluded that the public’s right of access outweighed whatever emotional distress the unsealing might cause.
To keep divorce records sealed, a defendant must prove that the release of the documents would cause objective harm to a concerned party, typically a juvenile.
Furthermore, in 2006 the Star Tribune spent specific time and resources looking in to the record of Republican candidate for congress Alan Fine. Mitch Berg at Shot in the Dark has that story.
In 2000 Conrad deFiebre from the Star Tribune wrote about Dayton’s past:
Similarly, when asked why he mounted his fourth campaign for statewide office this year, he said it was because of his recent second divorce. If he had still been married, he said, he would be tending cattle with his second wife, Janice Haarstick, instead of running for election.
“I expect my life to be scrutinized,” he said. “Accurate and fair are all I’ve ever asked for. As Harry Truman said, `If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’ (deFiebre, Conrad. Public Quest Pulls Private Man… August 30, 2000).”
Following this divorce Dayton made several comments to the press about the proceedings.
Recently divorced for a second time, Dayton said he delayed getting into the Senate race because he was preoccupied with personal matters. “Up until the middle of January, my main priority had been to try to save my marriage,” he said. ”Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, and that also opened the possibility of undertaking this campaign.”
Following any divorce there are public records on file with the courts. It’s not uncommon for parties involved to have the records sealed from public viewing.
In the course of review of the court file in Goodhue County, Minnesota, some documents were available for public review, but two sworn statements from Dayton’s ex-wife had been removed from the file and given to Dayton’s attorney.
The documents in question involve Dayton’s second divorce from Janice Haarstick in 1999. Dayton was petitioner in the case, which means he brought the divorce case.
During the early stages of the divorce proceedings an application for temporary relief was filed. This is a sworn statement from a party in support of a request for the Court to grant some sort of interim relief.
For example, during the pendency of the action, the Court can decide who would live in the house and grant temporary spousal maintenance, otherwise known as alimony. In cases with children, temporary custody between the parties could be set.
Following the Mark Dayton’s initiation of the divorce, Mark Dayton’s now ex-wife brought a sworn application for temporary relief and filed this with the court administrator in Goodhue County, Minnesota on June 8, 1999.
A few days after filing this application for temporary, Mark Dayton’s ex-wife filed another sworn affidavit with the Court, ostensibly in support of the application for temporary relief. This document was entitled “Second Affidavit of Janice Haarstick Dayton” and filed on June 15, 1999.
On March 31, 2000, Janice Haarstick’s attorney from Leonard, Street and Deinard, Roseanne Nathanson, apparently without any authorization under the law to do so, removed these sworn statements and some other documents from the court file. It’s unclear why she was allowed to physically remove these documents from the file without any court order to do so.
We know that this was done, because there is a receipt for them in the court file. Seven days later, an order was signed by the Honorable Richard C. Perkins allowing these documents to be returned to each parties’ attorneys.
This Order was not filed with the Court Administrator until April 10, 2000 (One full week after his announcement he was running for the United States Senate), ten days after the documents had already been removed by Janice Haarstick’s Attorney.
What’s strange, and why the public should be informed, is that Dayton’s records were not sealed but they were actually removed from the court and returned to the Dayton and Haarsticks’ attorneys.
Haarstick’s sworn statements were physically removed from the public record under very suspicious circumstances.
After reviewing this information with a few attorneys I have discovered this is an unprecedented maneuver to conceal what is in the documents, and there is no specific provision for it in Minnesota law.
We see from the timeline of the case that at the time the documents were removed from the court file, there was no legal authority for this to be done.
I am asking the Mark Dayton campaign, in the spirit of full disclosure, to return all the public documents from his divorce case including the two sworn statements filed by Ms. Haarstick.
This is nothing new for Minnesota as in 1990 when DFL Governor Rudy Perpich called several news conferences across the state discussing the public divorce papers of Republican Jon Grunseth.
Please stay tuned to MinnesotaDemocratsExposed.com as more information becomes available.
by Luke Hellier | 10 Comments »