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MN GOP PRESS RELEASE: “END THE CHARADE, R.T.”
By Luke Hellier | October 9, 2009
St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota of Chairman Tony Sutton today called for a full accounting from Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak regarding all expenses incurred as a result of his campaigning for governor across the state.
“With Chris Coleman’s departure from the governor’s race, it’s time for R.T. Rybak to finally come clean about how and where he is reporting all of his gubernatorial campaign expenses. For months, gubernatorial candidate Rybak has been hitting the road but we’ve yet to see any indication he’s actually reporting his visits to places like Austin, Morgan, Montgomery and Pequot Lakes as required by state law. Meanwhile, Rybak’s mayoral campaign committee reports would have us believe he spent $26,500 on polling to run for mayor of Minneapolis. Rybak needs to end the charade and explain how of all this spending is being reported.â€
Rybak Spent $26,500 On Poll To Run For Reelection As Mayor?
On May 25, 2009, Rybak Shelled Out $26,500 For A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Polling. (R.T. for Mayor Pre-Primary Report, Filed September 11, 2009)
Rybak’s Gubernatorial Travels
Rybak Attended Austin DFL Event For Gubernatorial Hopefuls. “Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak was also going beyond the big city looking for support. He said creating jobs is the key to Minnesota’s future – something he said he’s accomplished while running the state’s largest city. ‘I know how to get big things done,’ he said.” (Mike Rose, “It’s politics at the pumpkin patch,” Austin Daily Herald, July 27, 2009)
Rybak Appeared At Farm Fest. “With potential Minnesota gubernatorial candidates milling about, DFL U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson and Tim Walz kicked off the political discussion this morning at the annual Farm Fest in southwestern Minnesota. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman both chatted casually with Farm Fest goers before Walz and Peterson spent more than an hour discussing the current agenda for agriculture in Washington D.C. Rybak and Coleman have both been mentioned as possible candidates for higher office.” (Charley Shaw, “Pols get down to business at Farm Fest,” Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report, August 4, 2009)
Rybak Participated In Gubernatorial Forum In South Minneapolis. “No direct punches were thrown at each other, but several DFLers who assembled Friday at a gubernatorial candidate forum in south Minneapolis lobbed scorn at their adversaries on the other side of the aisle, notably Gov. Tim Pawlenty. … While Pawlenty was often the target in the rhetoric, however, the main chore for the candidates was to distinguish themselves from each other. In addition to Dayton, the attendees were House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher of Minneapolis, former state Rep. Matt Entenza of St. Paul, and state Sens. Tom Bakk of Cook and John Marty of Roseville. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who haven’t officially announced their gubernatorial campaigns, were also part of the forum.” (Charley Shaw, “DFL candidates seek the competitive edge for 2010 Minn. gov race,” Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report, August 31, 2009)
Rybak Featured At Take Action Minnesota “Progressive” Event In St. Paul Featuring “Eleven Of The Gubernatorial Candidates.” (Take Action Minnesota Press Release, September 24, 2009)
- “I will only be elected governor if we work together,” Rybak said at the Take Action Function. (Remarks by R.T. Rybak at Take Action Minnesota Event, September 26, 2009)
Rybak Speaks At DFL Gubernatorial Forum After DFL Party Issues Released Entitled, “DFL Candidates to Join Governor Schweitzer at Annual Founders Day Dinner and Candidate Fair.” (DFL Media Advisory, September 23, 2009)
Rybak Attended AFL-CIO Gubernatorial Debate In Bloomington. “This morning, RT Rybak casually announced he’s running for governor to City Pages at the AFL-CIO forum held at the Ramada Inn. While waiting to take the stage alongside the other DFL gubernatorial candidates, and Mayor Chris Coleman, he took the time to come up and shake City Pages’s hand. It was in this brief moment he allowed his mouth to slip out the words many wanted to hear. What follows is the brief interaction: CP: ‘Hey, RT.’ RT: ‘Hi. I’m RT Rybak. How’s it going?’ CP: ‘Good man. How’s it going today?’ RT: ‘Oh you know, running for mayor, running for governor… busy.’â€Â (Bradley Campbell, “Rybak casually announces he’s running for Governor,†City Pages, October 1, 2009)
Rybak Campaigned In Montgomery & Coon Rapids. “Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman have been popping up all over the state lately, in places Twin Cities mayors don’t usually frequent. Both stopped by Kolacky Days in Montgomery to fete the prune-filled pastry. They were spotted at a recent Coon Rapids pig roast.â€Â (Rachel Stassen Berger, “R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman are strongly hinting at rival bids for governor,†Star Tribune, October 3, 2009)
Rybak Visited Pequot Lakes & Hutchinson. “DFL political activists from Pequot Lakes to Hutchinson report visits from each of them.â€Â (Rachel Stassen Berger, “R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman are strongly hinting at rival bids for governor,†Star Tribune, October 3, 2009)
Rybak Stopped In Pope County. “Rybak has posted photos of himself standing next to a farmer in a Pope County cattle pasture and addressing a crowd in Austin on his Facebook page.â€Â (Rachel Stassen Berger, “R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman are strongly hinting at rival bids for governor,†Star Tribune, October 3, 2009)
Rybak Appeared At Houston County’s Apple Fest 2009. (Facebook, Photos of R.T. Rybak, Added September 20, 2009)
Even Democrat Leader Says Rybak Is “Everywhereâ€
“‘I see them everywhere. When don’t I see them?’ said Marge Hoffa, DFL chair of the Third Congressional District, which spans the western suburbs.â€Â (Rachel Stassen Berger, “R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman are strongly hinting at rival bids for governor,†Star Tribune, October 3, 2009)
Teamsters Local 120 Has Already Endorsed Rybak For… Governor
“Teamsters Local 120, the largest Teamsters unit in Minnesota, has endorsed Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak for governor. Local President Brad A. Slawson Jr. said in a statement issued Saturday that the union is ‘most confident in Rybak’s prospects for winning statewide election and moving forward.’” (“Teamsters unit backs Rybak for governor,” Star Tribune, September 26, 2009)
Bakk Says Rybak Should File Gubernatorial Candidacy
“[Tom] Bakk, a DFL candidate who said both mayors have been on the stump enough that they should file their candidacies, said the Democrats’ real battle will be in the western and southern parts of the state.†(Rachel Stassen Berger, “R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman are strongly hinting at rival bids for governor,†Star Tribune, October 3, 2009)
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29 Responses to “MN GOP PRESS RELEASE: “END THE CHARADE, R.T.””
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October 10th, 2009 at 7:01 AM
I have a modest proposal to present.
Why not leave the Democratic Party nominating process to Democrats, and the Republican nominating process to Republicans?
For my part, I don’t see why I should have a role in helping my Republican friends whom to nominate for any office. That is quite properly, the business of the Republican Party and it’s members. of which I freely admit I am not one.
October 10th, 2009 at 7:15 AM
I have a modest proposal to present.
How about liberal trolls look at the name of this blog, “Minnesota Democrats Exposed”, before they begin crying that in fact, Minnesota Democrats are being exposed?
October 10th, 2009 at 7:36 AM
Hiram asks:
“Why not leave the Democratic Party nominating process to Democrats, and the Republican nominating process to Republicans?”
I don’t know that either party is interfering with the other party’s “process”
What is it that you’re asking for Hiram? Should the GOP be issued a gag order regarding DFL candidates until the endorsement?
What are you hoping to hide?
October 10th, 2009 at 8:04 AM
“I don’t know that either party is interfering with the other party’s “processâ€.”
Sutton seems to be around an awful lot worrying about just who is and isn’t running for governor on the DFL side.
“Should the GOP be issued a gag order regarding DFL candidates until the endorsement?”
Not at all. Sutton and crew should feel free to blast away at DFL candidates on substantive issues. And they have a right to say anything they want. But criticizing the internal campaign strategies of candidates of the other party seems to me to out of bounds. Why should Democrats take advice from Tony Sutton? I assure you, Republicans would be unwise to take advice from me concerning their own internal politics.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Hiram,
The problem here, and you don;’t seem to understand this, is that Rybak and Coleman are/were using their Mayoral re-election accounts as a slush fund to run for Governor. I don’t believe the state campaign finance board has ruled on the use of these accounts yet, and maybe Coleman and Rybak will be found in the right. But the law clearly states that a candidate has to start a committee and file appropriate reports when they reach the $100 threshold.
A few days ago on another thread, you put Pawlenty in the same category as Rybak and Coleman. The difference is that Pawlenty is not using his own campaign cash to travel the country and give speeches. His gubernatorial campaign fund is terminated and Pawlenty has not reached any legal threshold to file any federal committees beyond his own federal PAC.
Both Coleman and Rybak are facing re-elections as mayor and I think it’s fair game for the GOP to point out their deficiencies. You certainly know that if Pawlenty had run for a third term the DFL would be saying that Pawlenty is more interested in being president or vice president than governor. Hell, they said that in 2008 and Pawlenty didn’t even make it on a ticket.
October 10th, 2009 at 12:07 PM
“Is that Rybak and Coleman are/were using their Mayoral re-election accounts as a slush fund to run for Governor?”
And what’s wrong with that?
“But the law clearly states that a candidate has to start a committee and file appropriate reports when they reach the $100 threshold.”
But neither guy is a candidate.
“Both Coleman and Rybak are facing re-elections as mayor and I think it’s fair game for the GOP to point out their deficiencies.”
Sutton, et al. seemed to be claiming the ability to read minds, an ability that subsequent events at least where Coleman was concerned, they lacked.
“You certainly know that if Pawlenty had run for a third term the DFL would be saying that Pawlenty is more interested in being president or vice president than governor. Hell, they said that in 2008 and Pawlenty didn’t even make it on a ticket.”
Possibly, but I would have felt awfully foolish in saying it. Pawlenty had those same ambitions in 2006 with respect to 2008, and I don’t recall Democrats making much of it. On the whole, I think the fact that Pawlenty is one of the more serious candidates for higher office is to his credit and speaks well for Minnesota.
October 10th, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Chris, Hiram understands it perfectly. He’s just playing moonbat-stupid.
Hiram says: “Sutton and crew should feel free to blast away at DFL candidates on substantive issues.”
Would illegal campaign finance practices be a substantive issue?
October 10th, 2009 at 12:16 PM
“On the whole, I think the fact that Pawlenty is one of the more serious candidates for higher office is to his credit and speaks well for Minnesota.”
It certainly speaks better than Carter/Mondale or Mondale/Ferraro.
October 10th, 2009 at 12:32 PM
“Would illegal campaign finance practices be a substantive issue?”
I will admit to a personal prejudice here. I shy away from making campaign finance problems an issue in campaigns. One problem generally is that these laws are so complex and often so vague that it’s very often very difficult to know when you are violating. Another problem is that they are often used to divert attention from the substantive issues that make the lives of Minnesotans better or worse. Whether or not a given candidate has filed for governor is almost completely irrelevant to those issues.
Maybe I should say here what I haven’t said before. The interpretation that Sutton et al. have applied to the filing question is by no means unreasonable. If they pursue this matter before the Election Board, I could envision them winning. But I think it’s a legalistic sort of a point, and because it’s the other party’s nomination that’s at issue, it’s one that I feel they don’t have the moral, political, and quite possibly legal standing to make. After all, isn’t in the interest of the Republican candidate for mayor of St. Paul, that Chris Coleman is campaigning elsewhere?
October 10th, 2009 at 5:37 PM
I note the difference in the claims made about RT and Chris.
While Coleman was charged with using campaign money outstate. The only money charge against Rybak is that he paid for a poll in May for a new electoral system (IRV).
The Republican party is not making a campaign finance charge against Rybak.
October 11th, 2009 at 7:03 AM
I am not aware of anything I have read here that the Republicans are making a campaign finance charge against Coleman either. There just has been a lot of high talk about campaign slush funds without any link to a specific violation of any misuse of campaign funds. They just have kind of glossed over the issue.
As I have said, I really don’t know if it’s an illegal misuse of campaign funds to spend them on what might at least arguably be another campaign. My sense is that the campaign finance laws deal more with disclosure than what you do with the money once it’s disclosed, but if anyone has a statute that restricts campaign funds to direct expenditures on that campaign, please post the link.
October 11th, 2009 at 10:02 AM
Hiram, are we now playing a game of semantics?
THe GOP has not “charged” RT or CC with anything. What they have done is filed a formal complaint with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.
October 11th, 2009 at 10:18 AM
“THe GOP has not “charged†RT or CC with anything. What they have done is filed a formal complaint with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.”
A distinction between “Charge” and “Complaint”? Who is playing the semantic games here?
Please feel to substitute one term for the other. I see no significant difference between the two in this context.
October 11th, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Hiram, not me. You were the one who stated “I am not aware of anything I have read here that the Republicans are making a campaign finance charge against Coleman either.”
You know that a “formal complaint” was filed. If you see no difference between “complaint” and “charge” then why deny either?
If you are not aware of the complaint/charge then you have a poor memory.
Here are posts that describe the complaint in which you left comments.
http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2009/09/28/mn-gop-press-release-rpm-files-campaign-finance-board-complaint-regarding-chris-coleman-r-t-rybak-campaign-expenditures/#more-9648
http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2009/09/29/must-read-from-the-star-tribune-state-gop-complains-about-mayors-campaigning/#comments
October 11th, 2009 at 11:34 AM
I see your issue. I was responding to the preceding posting but I should have been more specific.
The statutory claim Republicans have been making is that Coleman violated the law by failing to file a campaign committee for a campaign for governor. They are correct in that he made no such filing, the legal issue they will have to contend with is that he isn’t running for governor.
The finance issue I was referring to and should have been more specific about is a potential misuse of funds for the mayoral campaign. There have been loaded terms thrown around, “campaign slush fund” and the like, but I haven’t seen any citation to any specific statute which limits the way Coleman can use his mayoral campaign funds. That charge, and I don’t actually know if it has been the source of an actual formal complaint is just sort of hanging out there, without any support in statute.
October 11th, 2009 at 12:42 PM
Hiram, let us assume for the moment that “charge” and “complaint” mean exactly the same thing.
Jude was incorrect in saying the Republicans have not made a “charge” against RT because they have. You compounded that error by saying CC has not been charged “either” In fact he has.
“Campaign slush fund” is a apt term in regards to CC.
1) There is prima facie evidence showing that CC was indeed running for Governor.
2) CC has not filed paper work required for campaign funds to be raised or spent on a gubernatorial campaign.
3) CC has spent a large amount of money from his mayoral campaign in outstate Minnesota. There is prima facie evidence showing that CC was campaigning for Governor during those outstate visits.
4) If the CFB believes that CC was campaigning for Governor, then his announcement of last week is not relevant. The events leading up to last week do not change.
You want a statute? I see more than one under Minnesota 10A – let’s start with 10A.105
“Single committee.A candidate must not accept contributions from a source, other than self, in aggregate in excess of $100 or accept a public subsidy unless the candidate designates and causes to be formed a single principal campaign committee for each office sought.”
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=10A.105
October 11th, 2009 at 1:25 PM
““Campaign slush fund†is a apt term in regards to CC.”
The Republican Party in the link you provided made no allegation, charge, complaint, or kvetch that Coleman has misused mayoral campaign funds.
“1) There is prima facie evidence showing that CC was indeed running for Governor.”
And what evidence is that? Did he say I am running for governor? Did he issue campaign literature saying, “Coleman for governor”? Did he distribute lawn signs to that effect? Did he put up a website to that effect? These are all incidents of a campaign for governor. Merely eating Kolacky or petting a cow is not evidence, prima facie or otherwise, of running for governor.
Many, many people spend money outside the Twin Cities. Very few of them are running for governor.
October 11th, 2009 at 2:03 PM
Chile
You are correct. I should have said the GOP has not made any credible charge against RT.
October 11th, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Hiram, no comment on 10A.105?
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then its a duck.
Jude, you’ve attempted to address one of more than a dozen issues the GOP has raised. How exactly does that make the complaint/charge not credible?
October 11th, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Hiram says: “Many, many people spend money outside the Twin Cities. Very few of them are running for governor.”
How many of these people are spending money from their Minneapolis or St. Paul mayoral campaign funds?
October 11th, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Concerning 10A.105, the problem is the same. Coleman was never a candidate for governor, for the reasons I have stated.
October 11th, 2009 at 3:33 PM
“How many of these people are spending money from their Minneapolis or St. Paul mayoral campaign funds?”
What difference does that make? Is the fact that Coleman is spending money from his mayoral campaign fund evidence that he is running for governor? Quite the opposite, I would think. Ms. Ng has conducted events outside St. Paul. Is that evidence that she is running for governor?
October 11th, 2009 at 3:37 PM
I know you want to argue that Coleman is misusing campaign funds. But as far as I know, the statutes don’t tell candidates how to spend their money. And that’s why the Republican Party isn’t raising that issue.
October 11th, 2009 at 3:40 PM
And for the reasons that Brodkorb and Sutton have mentioned, it is obvious that he was.
http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2009/09/28/mn-gop-press-release-rpm-files-campaign-finance-board-complaint-regarding-chris-coleman-r-t-rybak-campaign-expenditures/#more-9648
You may be the only person in the world, including Chris Coleman, who is insisting he was never campaiging for Governor.
October 11th, 2009 at 6:30 PM
In that lengthy communique, Sutton did not describe a single act of political campaigning. Nowhere was he able to find Coleman in any way saying, “I am running for governor, please vote for me.”
October 11th, 2009 at 6:43 PM
Whether by words or by actions …
The most interesting thing about Chris Coleman’s “mayoral” campaign, is that his campaign signs fail to mention the word “Mayor.”
October 11th, 2009 at 7:24 PM
Chile
The claims against Rybak are.
1. His campaign Hired A Pollster. So? In may with IRV for the first time this seems only logical.
2. He has donated money. So? I donate money am I running?
3. He has been called a candidate and has appeared at places candidates do. RT has made no bones about his desire to run. Indeed he has indicated it is likely. But, all he can be accused of so far is keeping his options open. Lots of people have had the desire and even the intentions but have decided in the end not to.
October 11th, 2009 at 7:53 PM
Jude
#1 – $26,500 for a poll on IRV? Minneapolis isn’t that big. How many questions can you really ask someone about IRV? $5,000 tops.
#2 – Did he donate his own money, or his campaign’s money? Who did he donate too.
#3 – “it’s time for R.T. Rybak to finally come clean about how and where he is reporting all of his gubernatorial campaign expenses.”
October 12th, 2009 at 6:19 AM
#1-Lots of people do polling who aren’t running for governor.
#2-What difference does it make if the money comes from a campaign fund, if you aren’t charging (or complaining about) misuse of campaign funds which the GOP is rather conspicuously not?
#3-Within reasonable limits, it’s up to RT or any candidate to announce his own candidacy. Other people can’t announce for him.
There seem to be quite a number of Republicans doing exactly what Coleman and Rybak were doing, testing the waters for a run for governor. Norm Coleman and Jim Ramstad were two who were mentioned on Almanac this weekend. Why haven’t they filed? Presumably because they haven’t decided? Why don’t I care? Because I believe people should be able to decide for themselves whether they are candidates for governor, and because it would be inappropriate for me to interfere with the other party’s selection process.