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RETIREMENT RUMORS FLYING THROUGH THE CAPITOL
By Michael B. Brodkorb | May 18, 2008
I’m hearing rumors that Representative Aaron Peterson and Representative Bernie Lieder may announce their retirements later tonight/tomorrow.
If you’re hearing about additional surprise announcements, leave a comment. Please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for updates.
UPDATE: I’m hearing from my sources that Lieder may not announce his retirement tonight because the DFL is still looking for a quality candidate to replace him. I’m also hearing that Representative Denise Dittrich and Representative Mary Ellen Otremba may call it quits tonight.
All of the seats I’ve listed tonight are great opportunities for Republican pick-ups in November.
Topics: Uncategorized | 32 Comments »
32 Responses to “RETIREMENT RUMORS FLYING THROUGH THE CAPITOL”
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May 18th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
The discussion is that Peterson is out (his parents were spotted outside the House Chambers); Denise Dittrich likely leaving and that Bernie Lieder is leaving, but not “announcing” tonight because there is no DFL person identified to run in his place yet.
Other rumors: Nora Slawik, Karen Clark, Andy Welti and Gene Pelowski.
Word has it that the House GOP has all retirements announced already because Seifert told the caucus to get the announcements out earlier this week (Berns and Connie Ruth). Little rumor on their side.
May 18th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I heard Otremba may retire as well…..
May 18th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Rumor has it Ortman is retiring amid her ethics scandals…
May 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
what about Chaudary? Is he going to step down after he was out-ed by the Strib today?
May 18th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I would speculate that Doug Peterson was at the capitol lining up support for his gubernatorial bid.
He has been speaking at district conventions around the state all spring, and getting a fairly warm response.
May 18th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
if these retirements are true, this is really going to hurt the DFL.
I’ve heard the GOP has some very strong candidates this year all over the state.
May 18th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I’m sure Chaudhary stays unless his constituents pressure him.
Good pickup opportunities. The Dems will spin this and say that open seats are virtually theirs in a year like this. But the lower you get, the more local the politics becomes. A strong candidate here and there, and there could be some pickups.
They key is to not give the DFL a veto-proof majority. The next step is to get a majority. It doesn’t all happen at once.
May 18th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
The Speaker set the House up perfectly for the fall elections, given her performance they have a 50/50 shot at reaching super majority. If that happens the Governor might as well find a nice place in Mexico next to Jesse.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Score tied at 4-4 after the first half hour.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:24 am
The score is now 8-4 with the minority party offering up twice as many seats as the democrats.
If anyone wanted to start a republican party in this state, now would be the time.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:10 am
From Political Animal at Pioneer Press:
A dozen Minnesota House members, including one surprise, pulled the plug on their legislative careers early Monday morning, giving farewell speeches on the floor after the Legislature adjourned for the year.
Rep. Bud Heidgerken, R-Freeport, stunned colleagues by annoucing his retirement. The other 11 had disclosed their decisions earlier.
Eight Republicans and four Democratic-Farmer-Laborites will not seek re-election next fall. DFLers outnumber Republicans in the House 85-25, so the GOP retirements will make it even tougher for their party to close the gap.
In addition to Heidgerken, those retiring are:
Republicans:
Rep. John Berns, Wayzata.
Rep. Chris DeLaForest, Andover.
Rep. Brad Finstad, Comfrey.
Rep. Dennis Ozment, Rosemount.
Rep. Erik Paulsen, Eden Prairie.
Rep. Connie Ruth, Owatonna.
Rep. Dean Simpson, Perham.
Rep. Kathy Tingelstad, Andover.
DFLers:
Rep. Scott Kranz, Blaine.
Rep. Frank Moe, Bemidji.
Rep. Aaron Peterson, Appleton.
Rep. Neva Walker, Minneapolis.
May 19th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Otremba is nothing more than a sad tool for MCCL. Good riddance.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:18 am
Looks like the Dems were too scared to go public last night and get some bad press. If it’s true that Dittrich, Lieder, and Otremba are out….then these open seats could be in play:
Dittrich
Lieder
Otremba
Kranz
Moe
Peterson
On the GOP side, all the retirements were in safe districts (Tingelstads seat may be the one place where the Dems have a shot).
May 19th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Say, CCG?
You really think 42-B is safe, this year?
May 19th, 2008 at 7:47 am
TJ: I think Pawlenty got about 60% there….it will be very difficult for the DFL to take that seat unless they have a superstar candidate.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:30 am
So, let me get this right. You republicans only have 48 seats in the body to start with. And now just under a fifth of them are quitting.
And democrats only need to pick up five more seats to leave republicans in the super minority in both bodies, draining all the ink from T-Paw’s veto pen.
And you already have T-Paw and the minority caucus boys doing just about everything that Margaret Kelliher and Larry Pogemiller told them to do in budget negotiations.
Wow. Must be a demoralizing day to be a republican.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am
any outside observer will tell you that the budget deal and this session were HUGE victories for Gov. Pawlenty. Kelliher was out of her league and Pogemiller got rolled over like a chump….the Gov. got pretty much everything he wanted.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Get serious. Minnesotans aren’t happy campers after the DFL attempted to tax them to death. There isn’t even a tiny possibility of them “reaching a supermajority” in 2009.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Mike Bredeck for House District 20A! I guess Aaron Peterson couldn’t take another hard campaign. At least Aaron won’t need any help moving out of his district, he hasn’t lived here since high school!
May 19th, 2008 at 10:55 am
The Pioneer Press clipping says the GOP has only 25 seats in the house of rep’s.
Who is right?
Thank you.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:07 am
No one though we’d be winning seats in Eagan either a couple of years ago. It’s a matter of time until we just take all of them
Sorry Republicans, there is gotta be a one or two of those open seats that will leave us all surprised come November.
The Blaine seat is going to be a bitch to keep though…
May 19th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Dean Simpson didn’t retire, though there had been rumors. Here’s the list from MPR:
Brad Finstad (R-Comfrey)
John Berns (R-Wayzata)
Scott Kranz (DFL – Blaine)
Frank Moe ((DFL – Bemidji)
Chris DeLaForest (R- Andover)
Aaron Peterson (DFL – Appleton)
Connie Ruth (R – Owatonna)
Neva Walker (DFL – Minneapolis)
Kathy Tingelstad (R – Andover)
Erik Paulsen (R – Eden Prairie)
Dennis Ozment (R – Rosemount)
Bud Heidgerken (R – Freeport)
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2008/05/retirements.shtmlhttp://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2008/05/retirements.shtml
Newton–you’re right that the PiPress blogger had the numbers wrong, as well as Simpson.
But Otremba, Leider, Ortman, Welti, Dittrich etc are still in for now. Eight Republicans and four Democrats retired. Some of the seats will be in highly competitive, while others, like the Ruth and Walker seats, simply won’t be in play. It doesn’t look to me like either party enjoys an advantage with regard to the retirements as they stand now.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Leroy is right.
Also, the Pioneer Mess listed Dean Simpson, who, while likely, didn’t announce his intention to retire on the floor last night.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Say, dolt #1?
Here’s your big chance to parlay your fraudulent military record into a new political career.
Time to put a nice shine on those jump boots and brasso your E-bay medals, boy! Moonbats like to gaze at shiney objects while they’re being lied to.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Puddles might have a chance if he moves out to Dist 20A. Hell, they voted for Aaron Peterson three times so its obvious they would vote for any old horses ass that runs under the DFL banner. I believe dolt #1 would qualify.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
NotSoSwiftly, you’re a sick man, and a liar, too.
rePete, no one should be surprised you’re rePetein’ NotSoSwiftly’s lines. Grow a set and get your own, why don’t ya?
May 19th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Pulease!
The GOP are still running the same “Gary Gross” language that put them in the super minority they are in now. ALL of those DFL retirements are safe DFL seats on the House level. ALL.
Peterson comes from one of the few DFL strongholds out west. He is the third generation Peterson to sit in that seat. That’s also an area that was strong Hatch and went out of its way to protect him. Whomever the party structure supports, will win. The GOP put the best possible candidate up last time and Peterson rolled him.
Moe is from Bemidji. The ONLY way the GOP took seats there is when the DFL candidates went to jail in 90’s. 2008 is not the year for them to comeback with the money brought back to those districts.
I assure you zero pick-ups, hell, zero-competition from the GOP in those four DFL open seats and the DFL taking no less than three of theirs.
We all know that Siefert hasn’t raised the money, and the GOP Caucus doesn’t have the money to protect its incumbents. However the DFL House Caucus and dozens of progressive groups are poised and ready to continue the pounding we last laid on you in Northfield.
This is a year where the GOP brand gets you nothing and your cries of high taxes fall on deaf ears.
Any bets?
May 19th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
A typical Puddles come back. Weak, very weak. By the way I was serious about you running in 20A. Besides running for office you can have my sons lawn mowing jobs next summer as he will be out of high school and moving on to other educational opportunities. Hmmm, I see you’ve been “outed” so many times you finally gave up and started using your real name. I suppose the next thing you will do is start challenging everyone else to do the same.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Tommy/Swiftee: Let’s try and keep our comments focused on the posts.
Swiftee: I know Tommy is a big boy, but I’m getting tired of his military record being the focus of comments. It has no place on this blog.
I know Tommy likes to mix it up too, but let’s all tone it down. I’ll have more on this subject later tonight.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
DJZ, Marty has done an excellent job raising money this past year. Much better then the Democrats have been able to do. As far as Aaron goes most of the Democrats voted for him because of his family name. Most people in the area, Dems and Republicans alike, fell he is an arrogant asshole and only voted for him because of his daddy. He knew this year he would get his ass kicked if Mike Bredeck ran again so he bailed out.
One other note, the LQP DFL did support Hatch at all cost. Then when they got caught they layed the blame on a deadman. Talk about a bunch of gutless weazles! Then the state party gave them the money to pay the fines for the party and the treasurer. I guess the DFL supports all the crooks they have working for them – something to be proud of right?
May 20th, 2008 at 8:40 am
DJZ:
Where did you hear “Seifert hasn’t raised any money” in your post? It’s totally false.
You should look at the Campaign Reports ending in year 2007 – Seifert and the House GOP raised the most money of any of the 4 caucuses and the Governor, about $100,000 more than the DFL House caucus. With the Republicans taking a hit across the country in candidates and fundraising, the House Republicans are ahead in both recruiting candidates and money.
Word has it that the teacher’s union is furious with the DFL for their inaction on pension legislation, the lack of seriousness in health insurance reform and funding bills that just dump money into Minneapolis.
When in the Minority, people will get more hungry to win. The DFL has become lazy – look at the fundraising report for people like Shelly Madore with less than $500 in the bank. She’s toast and so are about 1/2 of their freshman class. People like Tscumpher and Wollshagger are accidental one termers.
Can you tell me how Obama and Franken will run in seats like Peterson’s, Moe’s, Tsumpher’s and Olin’s? My guess is mid-40’s for %.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
TS:
As a finance member of a certain left leaning organization, I know we have 1.1 million for the state house races. The DNC is going to be ran by the Obama peeps come June 4th, they will be investing in the local races for turnout purposes which will of course lift his boat too. AFL-CIO has a 2 million dollar effort and SEIU has a 1 million dollar effort. EdMN will be the biggest contributor again, I’ll keep their contribution quiet and let you find out from your ’source’. The DFL can piss them off all they want, they aren’t going anywhere, its not like the Republicans will give them one-eighth of what they want so, losing out on one-quarter of your agenda is not a bad deal(.750)
In a Democratic year, the House Caucus has not begun to really raise money will surpass you by about 700,000 dollars on hand. Our non-profits, labor, 527’s and Presidential politics will have many millions flowing through this state. The bigger the turnout for local candidates, the better it has fared for our national candidates. Franken and Obama will be alright- as will Walz, Madia and Tinklenberg.
Kline may be the only bone you get this year tossed to you. After redistricting, he’ll be forced to retire too.